Hostel Grounds
by Lauz1
Summary: Set Mid Season One: Six Months Ago everything was going great, Lucas nearly had the girl of his dreams and Peyton almost had a happily ever after. Now though, things are different and they're both on hostel grounds
1. Chapter 1

This is a world where school is rated by the social cliques like jocks, cheerleaders and geeks and she was the ultimate definition of social outcast. Of course it didn't really bother that she was recognised as a social outcast, it meant that most of the teasing which translated from the little Miss Populars of the school was completely lost on her. For some reason, she was never the intended aim of a joke, unlike the 'geeks' of the school who were always being targeted. Maybe it was her infamous quick wit which had become a secondary reflex that scared the girls from making fun of the way she dressed or more than likely it was the way she dressed that scared them; it could have been the leather jacket she could always be guaranteed wearing, or it could have been the pretty little sparkly nose stud she was sporting; or it could have been her death glare which she had been practising since infancy or more than likely it was because once upon a time she had been one of those shallow, air headed bimbos and knew pretty much most of their dirty little secrets which they would rather die than have revealed.

With the rev of the bike's engine, she smirked under the helmet knowing full well that Charlie wait no…Caleb…no that was wrong to, well it began with a C – was trying to get the attention of students making their way into the school building and he had been successful. All eyes were on them. Peyton stood up on the bike and swung her leg over jumping back onto the pavement. She was dressed in last night's clothes which consisted of a pair of low riding dark blue denim jeans, a black vest which was covered by her black leather jacket and her pretty silver spiked black angle boots. Pulling the helmet from her head, she suddenly felt the cool fresh air brush up against her face. "Thanks for the ride…" She handed back the helmet to the guy on the bike, who wasn't wearing one. She tilted her head slightly, last night he seemed awfully a lot more attractive but then again she was practically overdosed on vodka and coke. Turning around she slowly started to make her way towards the school building, knowing full well that all eyes were still on her.

"Not even gonna give me your number?" The guy called out.

Peyton rolled her eyes, "If it's meant to be, you'll guess it." In other words, get the hint. One night stand doesn't equal an everlasting relationship – hell it didn't even equal a two night stand, if there was such a thing. She turned and looked at the group that had just formed around the school buildings entrance and cursed to herself…this wasn't some stereotypical high school movie yet the cheerleaders and the jocks always seemed to play up to their roles really well. As she made her way towards the door, she caught the eye of the school's basketball captain. For a moment they exchanged glances before she pulled on the set of double doors and walked inside. Now that was one boy she wouldn't mind getting a grip on, she thought to herself.

Brooke Davis was the Raven's head cheerleader and was one of the most popular and self declared prettiest girls of the school. She rolled her eyes watching Peyton walk inside, it was crazy to think that once upon a time they had been best friends. In fact it was crazy to think that they lived on the same planet, "I swear that girl is like the high school's most popular drive thru." She joked to the rest of the group.

"Jealous she's getting more action than you, Brooke?" Rachel asked spitefully. She had only been in Tree Hill for two months and already she was Brooke's wing man so to speak in the cheerleading world, which meant that if anything happened to Brooke then she would get to step in and become captain. The idea of being captain of the cheerleading squad urged her on more than one occasion to think of little 'accidents' which the head cheerleader might be caught up in. Rachel smirked and turned on her white sneakers and headed inside.

Brooke rolled her eyes at Rachel. She turned back and looked at her boyfriend whose body she was currently leaning against. "Hey Broody…" She said trying to get his attention. When ever they were together it always seemed as though his mind were someplace else. "What ya thinking about?" She asked, knowing full well that he would say something sweet and wonderful, like that he was thinking of her which would be sweet – but a bunch of crap. She wondered sometimes why they even bothered staying together, they didn't talk much – at least not about the important things.

Lucas shrugged, he hadn't really been paying attention the group's conversation just little bits here and there so that if he were asked a question, he could at least have an idea about what they were talking about. It was ironic to think two years ago he would have killed to be a part of this group but now that he had landed so to speak, all he wanted to do was get away from it all. "Nothing really…" He said referring back to Brooke's original question…which was then followed by an awkward pause between the two of them. Recently there had been so many awkward pauses between them that it was actually becoming less awkward.

The third and final bell rang, Brooke raised her brow and watched as the group slowly went off in their separate directions. She turned and looked at Lucas and smirked, biting her bottom lip. "Well maybe after practise tonight you could come by mine and I could give you something to think about…" She said playfully rubbing her body against his.

Lucas took a hold of Brooke's shoulders and stepped aside, "Yeah, maybe we'll see…" He said vaguely.

Brooke laughed disbelievingly, "Okay, whatever." She shook her head and walked away from him. In the beginning their relationship had been fun but six months down the line and it was – well it wasn't what she thought it would be. Everything was different back then – she and Peyton were best of friends and Lucas was a little nobody, a little nobody who was sweet and sensitive. Now, she and Peyton were barely speaking and Lucas was barely affectionate. Six months ago, everything was better…she sighed and continued to make her way across the courtyard.

Lucas pulled on the set of double doors and headed inside, bumping into someone head on in the mean time. He rubbed his chin about to say watch where your going or something like that but paused as he saw who it was he bumped into. Taking a step back, he smiled awkwardly at her. "Sorry…"

Peyton rubbed her forehead gently and closed her eyes hearing his voice. Great, this was just what she needed. Opening her eyes, she looked up into those gorgeous blue eyes that had once mesmerized her…and still did. Frowning, "Really that's the best you can do? Sorry?" She scoffed, rolling her eyes and started to make her way past him.

Lucas turned and watched her go, "You bumped into me!" He said, calling after her. They had almost been a couple, they had almost had everything together but she had pulled back and everything after that went down hill. His relationship with Brooke was kicked up a notch and it seemed the more involved he got in Brooke's life the more Peyton pulled away from Brooke.

Peyton paused in her tracks, was he really getting into an argument with her. Fine, if the blond, arrogant ass wanted an argument who was she to refuse. Turning around she walked closer to him, "You bumped into me, dumbass." She paused. "See these things…" She said pointing to her eyes, "they are generally used to see, so we don't …I don't know, bump into people." 

Lucas frowned, "Yeah well I'm surprised you can even see straight, one too many last night?" He asked bitterly. He couldn't help himself, he still cared about Peyton which was evident by the way he looked at her, but his jealousy and bitterness towards her just seemed to fuel him somehow.

Peyton frowned, "Aw, what's the matter, jock strap too tight? Or is the meaningless relationship finally catching up with the almighty Lucas Scott?" She asked truthfully. They had barely spoken in six months, which was her fault really. She couldn't bear to see Brooke and Lucas together; it had made her sick to her stomach so she had become distant with Brooke and with the distance became hostility on both sides.

Lucas laughed bitterly getting closer to her "It's kind of poetic really…you riding into school on a bike, considering you've become the town's…." He said referring to her many one night stands. In six months Peyton Sawyer had gone from girlfriend of Nathan Scott to the notorious party girl who sleeps around. "You sold yourself…"

"You're one to talk." Peyton responded in a harsh tone, "How's Haley these days?" Peyton watched as Lucas suddenly went quiet. "Talk to her lately?" Again she watched as Lucas didn't have a comeback. She smirked, "Oh yeah that's right, she ditched your ass as soon as you turned into the arrogant bastard that you've become." Something happened then, something which she didn't see coming. He kissed her.


	2. Chapter 2

There are many kinds of kisses, in some people's lives they are a natural daily habit. Kissing someone on the cheek twice is apparently a French way of saying hello or goodbye to friends. Some kisses happen between friends with a peck on the lips which can be a completely un-sexual moment with absolutely no feeling attached to the kiss. Of course there are the other kind of kisses; drunken fumbled make out sessions with random, nameless, blurred faces and make out sessions between a boyfriend and a girlfriend but this isn't France, and they aren't drunk and at this moment in time they aren't even friends. So it begged the question; how could a kiss between two people who aren't romantically together mean so much more than a kiss between a boyfriend and a girlfriend?

As his hands cupped her face pulling her further into the kiss, she stumbled slightly at the pure intensity of the kiss. Why was he the only guy who could kiss her like that? How could a kiss make her feel like they were the only two people in the world? Peyton pressed her hands against his chest and pushed his body away from hers, their lips parting leaving a slight salvia trail in the wake of the kiss. Too many questions and mixed emotions were floating around inside of her right now but the one that really stuck out in her mind, blurted out through her mouth. "What the hell was that?" She asked frowning into his baby blues which could melt the coldest of hearts. Peyton sighed and watched as he just stared at her blankly, she shook her head. "Unbelievable." Peyton turned on her pretty silver spiked heels and walked away from him.

Lucas touched his lips for a moment, still being able to taste her lip gloss. He was still completely lost in the moment when he heard someone clear their throat behind him, trying obviously to get his attention. He closed his eyes and feared the worst, it was Brooke...Brooke had seen him kiss Peyton, her former best friend. Opening his eyes he decided to face the music and slowly turned his body around and saw Haley standing in front of the doorway with her arms folded across her chest. He wished it was Brooke... "That's not what it looked like." He said quickly jumping to his own defence.

Haley raised her brow unconvinced, "So you weren't just making out with your girlfriend's ex best friend?" Haley sighed, "You know what...we're not friends, so it's none of my business." She added

Lucas nodded, "You're right...it is none of your business." He said harshly. They hadn't spoken in two months; she had been ignoring his calls and completely blanking him in school. Their friendship began to deteriorate the same time his popularity escalated. The truth was he missed their friendship – at one point it had meant everything to him but now everything had changed. Turning around he began to walk away.

"You know what..." Haley said gathering his attention once more, she watched as he turned around waiting on her next sentence. "I was wrong two months ago when I called you shallow and conceited..." She slowly walked towards him, locking eyes with him. "That was just the shell of what you are now." She retorted bitterly. "You've done some pretty messed up things since you became big man on campus" She said sarcastically, "Playing around on your so-called girlfriend, buying into your own hype – but playing around with Peyton? After everything she's been through, after everything that's happened this year - messing her around is just plain cruel." Even though Peyton had gone off of the rails slightly in the past six months in terms of going out practically every night to bars and clubs, hooking up with random guys – they had become closer friends, practically best of these days. Haley sighed trying so hard to keep tears at bay, "Where's my best friend gone?" She asked looking up at him. Shaking her head she stepped past him and walked into the tutor centre.

Lucas watched Haley walk into the tutor centre and leant back against one of the school lockers. He hated it when they argued – but over the past couple of months he had told himself that it was just Haley's dislike of the whole basketball lifestyle that had gotten her so wound up. Deep down he knew that wasn't the reason – he had changed and not for the better. Pushing himself away from the locker he turned and faced the blue metal locker door and sighed, throwing his fist at it.

---

Haley tapped gently on the black door and looked inside of the bedroom which had over the past six months become a second home to her. The one thing that hadn't changed though, was the loud music that was constantly blaring from the record player. "Knock knock."She said loudly. Haley walked over to the record player and turned down the speakers.

Peyton walked out of the bathroom into her bedroom because of the sudden drop in the music levels. Burglar? She turned peered into the look nook in her room where she stored all of her music and smirked, seeing Haley standing there. Not a burglar. "Sup Hales." She said walking over to her full length mirror. "What do ya think?" She turned slightly and looked herself up and down, she wasn't a particularly vain person, but when she was going out for a night on the town or going to a party she wanted to make sure she looked good.

Haley widened her eyes, over the past few months Peyton's outfits had become more exposing and daring – but this one topped them all. Peyton was dressed in a pair of low riding black leather pants with a red halter neck, showing a little cleavage and her toned stomach. "If you're going for the easy look, I'd say you've got your outfit." She said honestly but in a way that sounded like she was joking. Haley walked over to Peyton's bed and sat down on it, watching as Peyton applied a heavy black eyeliner to her eyes. "You are still going to Nathan's beach house party right?" She asked curiously.

Peyton looked in the mirror back at Haley and nodded, "Yeah – I promised you last week that I would be your sidekick for the night."

Haley smiled and nodded. She could always count on Peyton, to date she had never let her down. "Good..." She said relieved. Over the past six months she had been to several of Nathan's parties and knew exactly what to expect; drunken popular girls throwing themselves at the drunken popular boys and ignoring the less worthy; which included her. Sure she was dating co-captain of the basketball team but her popularity hadn't soared like Lucas's, a few more people knew her name that was it. "So – uh...funny thing happened in school today," She said deciding to broach the subject of the kiss, she watched as Peyton turned and looked at her as though she already knew what she was going to say. "I saw the kiss..." She paused and tilted her head looking at her friend concerned, "You okay?"

Peyton nodded, "I'm fine."

"Really?" Haley questioned her. "I mean I know that once upon a time you had feelings for Lucas..."

"Yeah and those feelings are long gone." Peyton said interrupting her. "Haley, I'm supposed to be your wingman tonight so stop worrying about me – tonight, I've got your back. So let's get into party mode – put on a record." Peyton smirked at Haley and watched as she got up and walked across the room to the record player. Peyton turned back and looked at herself in the mirror, her smile faded.

----

Brooke tapped gently on Lucas's bedroom door. Usually it was custom for the guy to pick the girl up but who was she trying to kid, Lucas had stopped being that sweet, sincere guy six months ago. She watched as Lucas opened the bedroom door, dressed in the same clothes he had worn to school. "You're going dressed like that?" She asked raising her brow.

Lucas looked down at his clothes and then back up to Brooke. "Going where?" He asked leaning against the door frame. He had been working on his overdue English assignment for the majority of the afternoon but was having trouble writing it because he was still playing back the events that had happened earlier in the day in his mind; the kiss with Peyton and the argument with Haley.

"Nathan's party..." Brooke sighed, "It's like an annual basketball tradition. You guys are through to the – basketball thingy" She said not knowing what championship they had gotten into, "so Captain of the basketball team throws a party to celebrate." Brooke rolled her eyes, "None of this is ringing a bell is it?"

Lucas shook his head

Brooke sighed, "Whatever I told Bevin we'd pick her up, so get dressed and I'll meet you in the car." Brooke turned around and slowly walked across the porch and onto the pathway. It shouldn't have surprised her that Lucas didn't know what she was talking about; it seemed that whenever she talked it went in one ear and straight back out the other. What was the point of their relationship? She scoffed at that though, relationship it was just one big bad mistake.

---

Haley opened the door to the beach house and her eyes widened the party had technically started half an hour ago and already the party was in full swing. She walked further into the beach house with Peyton following behind her, she looked at a group of girls making out in the corner of the room with a bunch of guys watching. She screwed up her nose and frowned but smiled seeing Nathan in the middle of the lounge. Slowly she walked up to him and wrapped her arms around hi neck and planted a quick kiss on his lips, "Hey."

Nathan smiled at Haley, "Hey...you're late." He looked over to Peyton and nodded

Haley smirked, "Just be glad I'm here cowboy." Haley turned and looked at Peyton who nodded at Nathan. "I don't know why you like the party scene so much." She said loudly trying to speak over the music.

Peyton sighed, "I don't – I like to get drunk. Big difference." Peyton glanced around the room seeing Brooke and her cheerleading posse in the corner hovering by the keg. As much as she wanted a drink right now she didn't particularly want to walk through that little crowd. She turned and saw Tim beside another Keg, hooking it up. She looked back to Haley and Nathan smirking, "Which I'm now gonna start doing." Slowly she turned and walked across the room to Tim who was filling up plastic cups. Picking one up off the table she turned and bumped into someone. "Sorry..."

Rachel smirked, "No spilled drink, no problem." She joked picking up one of the plastic cups from the table. Sighing she looked around the beach house, "I thought there would be at least some decent male ass here tonight but looks like I was wrong. Oh well, the drunker I get the more attractive they look."

Peyton laughed, "Funny that happens to me too." Peyton watched as Rachel smirked, lifting her plastic cup in the air. "Okay..." Peyton tapped her plastic cup against Rachel's, "To the drunker we get the more attractive they look."

"Here here." Rachel lifted the cup to her mouth and started to drink from the cup and didn't stop until it was empty. Throwing the plastic cup behind her she smirked, "No point in wasting time..." She joked.

Peyton laughed.

--

Haley walked outside onto the balcony of the house. She looked out across the beach to the darkened sea and sighed, leaning against the railings.

"Ever wish you could disappear into that darkness?"

Haley turned and saw Lucas sat on the swing seat and sighed, "No but now I'm wishing I could." As Haley started to make her way towards the door that led back into the beach house.

"Earlier you asked where your best friend had gone..." Lucas said turning to look at Haley who had stopped in her tracks and had turned to look at him, "He's out in that darkness." Lucas looked back out towards the darkened sea which was lit only by the moon's reflection bouncing off of the water. "He got lost at sea a long time ago...and he can't find his way back."

Haley walked over to the swing seat and sat beside him, letting out a deep sigh. "I hate us being like this." She admitted to him "and I hate seeing you like this. You used to smile – and now when you do it's an empty smile...no one is behind that smile, no one I recognise." Haley was happy that Lucas was finally starting to open up to her, that he was finally showing his true self. "I only know one other person who has an empty smile – and it happened about the same time yours appeared." She said referring to Peyton. "What happened?"

Lucas shrugged and shook his head, "She didn't want me." Lucas turned and looked at Haley, his face filled with sadness. "There was a moment six months ago – a moment where everything seemed to be going right. I was on the school basketball team, I was finally getting to know my brother and..." He paused, "I told her I wanted everything with her, that I wanted to be with her..." He sighed, "and you have no idea how much it hurt when she walked away but that doesn't even compare to seeing her with all of these different guys, day after day..." He laughed quietly, "It's stupid right? My path into the darkness because of a girl?" Lucas turned and looked at Haley, searching her face for some kind of comfort but he half expected her just to get up and walk away after the way he had treated her these past few months.

Haley leaned in closer and wrapped her arms around his neck, hugging him. "Maybe it would be stupid if it was just because of some girl...but it's not some girl, its THE girl."She said quietly into his ear. Lucas had been watching and fantasizing over Peyton Sawyer for as long as she could remember.

--

Rachel jumped down from the table where she had just performed a striper-esque scene for the sex crazed teens to fantasize over later in the night. She smirked picking up a plastic cup filled with beer, she looked at Tim whose attentions were focused on breasts. "Keep the mental image in the spank bank perv boy 'cause that's the closest your getting to this body." Turning around she headed across the room and joined the rest of the cheer squad. "Hey girlies...enjoying the party?"

Brooke shook her head unimpressed, "You mean did we enjoy the one woman slut show? Then no, it was a little bland maybe you should take some lessons." Brooke smirked and took a sip from her drink. The whole party had been a complete bust at least for her.

"Funny, your boyfriend didn't think they were bland at the last party." Rachel retorted, "In fact I think he said that you should come to me for some advice." She was tired of being Brooke's punching bag, as much as she wanted to be a cheerleader she couldn't take the constant abuse and undermining from Brooke. " Where is he by the way? I haven't seen him by your side all night."

Peyton walked over to Rachel and tapped her shoulder, "Hey you coming, we're hitting O'Reily's"

Brooke smirked, "Oh look at that my former best friend aka easy rider...recruiting for your easy rider team?" Brooke asked bitterly. She didn't know why suddenly her attention was diverted to Peyton and she didn't know where all of her hostility was coming from.

"Well if she was, you'd be at the top of her list." Rachel said defending Peyton.

"Okay let's just retract the claws..." Peyton said not wanting to get into an argument with anyone, least of Brooke.

"I'm not the whore here..." Brooke said looking directly at Peyton

"Sure you are, you're just a whore dressed up in sheep's clothing." Peyton said referring to Brooke's so called monogamist relationship with Lucas. Everyone in school knew that neither of them were faithful to one another, at every party Brooke could be seen making out with some random guy and Lucas, well his kiss earlier had proved just exactly how unfaithful he was.

Brooke shook her head, "What's the matter Peyton a little green with envy?" She asked honestly. "Isn't that what why you stopped talking to me? Because suddenly I had everything and you had nothing?" Stop, Brooke told herself but she couldn't help herself.

"You have everything, right!" Peyton scoffed at that notion noticing that everyone inside of the party had stopped doing whatever they were doing and were now watching the bitch fight. "If everything means a bunch of friends who probably don't even know when your birthday is, a stupid title as head cheerleader...go, fight rawr - which when you leave high school will mean nothing..." Peyton turned and saw Haley and Lucas walk into the beach house.

"Maybe my friends don't know my birthday but at least they're still my friends. How many friends have you got nowadays Peyton?" Brooke frowned, "The closest friend you've got is a bottle of vodka."

Peyton laughed, "Yeah well maybe that bottle of vodka understands me a lot better than you, my so called best friend ever did..."

"I knew you before you went all trailer park skank..."

"Really you knew me? Okay then genius...earlier this year when I went all what was it you called it, PMT on you – why did I do that? OH right yeah, you said it was because of Nathan...you just assumed, you never asked what was wrong with me, you didn't get it then and you don't get it now." Peyton shook her head, "You just don't get it..." She said exasperated. Peyton turned and walked across the room making her way through the crowd of people. As she reached the door she looked up at Lucas whose attention was focused purely on her. Peyton's eyes were red from the tears waiting to burst out, she pushed her way past the people standing at the door and left the party.

Haley turned and looked at Lucas who was already half way out of the door, following after Peyton. She turned back and walked over to Brooke. "What the hell just happened?"

"Your friend's girlfriend went all Psycho Carrie at the Prom." Rachel said walking away from the cheerleading squad.

Haley watched Rachel walk away and shook her head. She turned back and looked at Brooke and was shocked at what she saw; Brooke Davis the captain of the cheerleading squad and teen queen bitch was crying. So not only did prom queen have a soul but apparently she still cared about Peyton.

"I don't ...I just snapped." Brooke said mumbled through tears. She had just snapped and at all of it was aimed at the wrong person. Peyton was her best friend –sure they hadn't really talked in the past six months but Peyton knew more about her than anyone and she had just started a fight with her for one reason and one reason only; she was jealous.

---


	3. Chapter 3

Like, Love, Anger and Hate. They are feelings we experience every day, whether we acknowledge them or not. They are words which when said create a ripple effect in calm water; you can never take them back for they are powerful words with powerful meanings behind them. Sometimes people say "Love" like it's a greeting with no thought or feeling going behind it. He wasn't that guy. Maybe for the past six months it had appeared as though he were; but he was never truly that guy. Not once had he uttered that sacred word to his girlfriend and when the word was thrusted upon him, he would usually return the sentiment with "you too" or with a smile. Why had he never returned those three beautiful words to her? Simple: He wasn't in love with her, but he was in love.

"Peyton..." Lucas called out after her, but she wasn't stopping or even acknowledging his presence. He sighed and continued to follow her along the white sandy beach. "Come on, Peyton...just stop and talk to me" Which came out sounding more like a demand than a plead, but it seemed to do the trick because thirty feet ahead of him, Peyton had stopped walking. He paused, not knowing what to do. What was he going to say? He had chased after her for the past five minutes, and now he was clueless?

Peyton sat down on the beach and extended her legs, unbuckling her high heeled boots one at a time. With each step on the beach she had found it increasingly harder to keep walking, so the boots had to go. "I should have known better." She mumbled to herself as she pulled the boot off from her left foot. As she took the boot off from her right foot she shook her head in disbelief. "I had forgotten how fricken warped you people are." She said turning her attention to Lucas, "All you people care about is your popularity, your stupid ass basketball and who your gonna screw tomorrow night." Standing up she held the boots in her hands and stared at him, "You're all the same."

Lucas shook his head, "No..." Said defiantly, sighing "I'm not that person, Peyton."

Peyton tilted her head, was he really telling her that. She scoffed, "You know what you're right, you're not that person..." She paused and shrugged, "Your worse." She said simply, letting it roll off of the tongue. "I really thought you were different, I thought maybe just maybe he really does see me for who I am and not for who I was pretending to be...but you're not different. You're the same as every other guy in the world." Peyton paused, "An ass."

Lucas frowned, "I did see you, Peyton." He took a couple of steps closer to her and kept the frown upon his face. "But you pushed me away." Lucas felt anger stirring inside of him; he hated thinking back to that night at Dan's party – where he and Peyton were finally on track to be together – only for her to push him away. "You're the one who walked away! Don't blame me for how I chose to move on."

Peyton rolled her eyes, "Whatever" She turned around ready to walk away but instead turned back and walked closer to Lucas. She wasn't going to back down from this fight, it had been six months coming "I came to your door and told you that I wanted to be with you." She shook her head in disbelief and raised her hand in the air pointing accusingly at him "but you had already moved on...you walked away and straight into my best friend's bed." Peyton scoffed, "So much for you wanting everything with me...Jumping into bed with Brooke really proved that!"She added bitterly.

Lucas frowned, "Sure blame it all on me. It's not like you haven't been out every night screwing the first guy you see." Lucas's jealously was obvious and he knew it. He hadn't intended on them arguing, in fact he had pretty much wanted to the opposite. He had wanted to tell her that for the past six months he had been hiding with Brooke because he thought it was better to be with someone who loves you rather than someone you love, he thought he was protecting his heart.

Peyton raised her hands to her face and screamed out of frustration. She shook her hand and slowly lowered her hands, "What are we doing?" She asked, adding a small light ironic laugh to the end of it "None of this matters anymore..."

"But it does..." Lucas said simply and firmly staring into Peyton's beautiful emerald coloured eyes. That was one thing he was certain of, it did still matter because he still cared for her – no screw that, he was still in love with her. And he knew it still mattered to her, or at least he thought it must; why else would she be out every night hooking up with a different guy? That wasn't the Peyton Sawyer he knew and he was pretty sure that wasn't the Peyton Sawyer standing in front of him. Lucas searched eyes for some kind of response but all he saw was her standing there, staring at him as though he had gone crazy.

"Lucas-" Peyton was interrupted by someone shouting her name.

"Yo! SAWYER. Let's go..."

Peyton turned around and looked up towards the top of the cliff and saw the guy who had shouted her name. Mark Davidson, one of the guys from Nathan's party – one of the guys she said she would go to a bar with. Peyton turned back around and looked up at Lucas whose eyes were kind of pleading with her to stay to finish what she had began to say. She chewed on the inside of her lips before turning around and slowly making her way across the sand, away from Lucas.

Lucas watched her walk away until he couldn't see her body anymore. He had waited because a part of him hoped that she would turn around and walk back to him but she didn't.

---

Peyton walked into her bedroom, she had opted out of going to a bar, getting wasted and sleeping with the first guy she laid eyes on to the numb the constant feeling of loneliness in her life. She paused standing in the doorway, looking around the room she had once taken so much pride in. Her room used to be her fortress of solitude, it was her space, something she could call her own – but as she distanced herself from her old life and friends, her room had become a distant place too. That was about to change. Walking over to her computer which was still on from earlier, she opened her iTunes and selected a song.

'In this farewell

There's no blood There's no alibi 'Cause I've drawn regret

From the truth Of a thousand lies'

So let mercy come And wash away

What I've done'

Peyton scraped back her blonde curly locks and tied it behind her head into a pony tail. She pulled down her leather pants and took off her halter neck and walked over to her closet, pulling out an old pair of jeans and what had been her painters shirt in the past; which was really one of her dad's old shirts covered in paint. Pulling her jeans up over her skinny legs she scanned the room trying to decide where best to start. Well first of, she would need a second pair of hands. Picking up her cell phone from the computer desk, she dialled a number. "Hey it's me...um, can you come over?"

I've faced myself To cross out what I've become

Erase myself And let go of what I've done

Put to rest

What you thought of me Well I cleaned this slate With the hands Of uncertainty

For what I've done I'll start again And whatever pain may come

Today this ends I'm forgiving what I've done'

With her bed, computer desk and mirror covered with large white sheets she looked down to her records which she had staked in a box.

"Whoa –" Haley walked into the Peyton's bedroom a little taken back from the scene. She looked down at the paint bucket and rollers and raised her brow "What did you kill Brooke and now you're trying to repaint over the evidence?"

Peyton turned around and saw Haley and smirked, "Yeah that's it." She joked. "So now that would make you an accomplice, so I think it's only fair that you get your hands dirty." Peyton bent down and picked up a paint brush.

Haley nodded and took the paint brush from Peyton's hand. "So uh, when you called I kinda thought you would want me to come and pick you up from a bar." Haley turned and looked at Peyton, with a small smile. "But here you are, not drunk and not with your arms around some sleazy guy." Haley raised her brow intrigued, she saw Lucas go after Peyton less than two hours ago and now Peyton was at home about to redecorate her room? "What gives?"

Peyton shrugged, "Just felt like a change. That's all."

Haley smirked and mumbled, "Mmm hmm." Haley looked over to Peyton's book case. "Well when we need to move that thing, I'll call Nathan. The party was kind of winding down when I left."

Peyton raised her brow and bite her bottom lip guiltily. "Wouldn't have anything to do with me and my outburst would it?"

Haley shook her head no but responded, "Yes." She laughed. "Okay the mission Peyton Sawyer whether you choose to except it." She said trying to sound like a secret agent, "And I say choose, I mean will." Haley looked at the four bedroom walls. "We've got.." She looked down at her tweety bird watch. "Precisely nine hours and thirty five minutes until the school bell rings by which point this bedroom will be repainted, cleaned and looking like old arty Peyton Sawyer rather than the new and not improved one that's been walking around in her body for the past six months."

"Got it" Peyton said simply. "Slutty Peyton equals bad. Broody Peyton equals good." She joked.

"Right... Okay, lets paint." Haley bent down and dipped her roller into the paint. As she stood back up, she applied the red paint to the wall and slowly moved the roller up and down, spreading the paint evenly.

-----

Lucas stepped out of the truck, he was tired. For the past two hours he had been walking along the beach trying to clear his head and sort through everything that had happened; not only what had happened tonight but these past six months. He had lost himself somewhere along the way and he had lost friends in the process. Now was the time for change; it was time to get back to who he used to be. He walked across the front lawn but paused a few feet away from the porch, seeing Brooke sat there waiting for him. "Brooke what are you doing here?"

Brooke stared at the ground and shrugged, "Where have you been?" She looked up at him, her eyes looked bloodshot from all the crying she had been doing. "Like I even need to ask." She said referring to Peyton.

"Don't start – I'm not in the mood." He said simply as he took a couple of steps towards the porch about to walk past her when she stood up in front of him and guarded the entrance to his own house.

Brooke looked down at him and shook her head, "I guess I should be relieved though that you went after her and came home alone rather than coming home with some random piece of ass." She was more than aware of his reputation of hooking up with other girls; like he was no doubt more than aware of her reputation for hooking up with other guys. "What's the matter? Pour your heart out to her and she turned you down?" She asked bitterly. Brooke paused watching as Lucas looked down uncomfortably. "Oh my god" She said as though she were out of breath. "You did, didn't you?"

Lucas finally looked up at Brooke with his blue sincere eyes, "I'm sorry." Was all he could say.

Brooke shook her head in disbelief. "Don't be..." She looked down to her feet and sighed, "I really thought that with time I could make you love me." She looked back up and smiled dejectedly.

"I do love you, Brooke." He admitted. It was the truth, it wasn't a lie. He did love her, in a way that wasn't romantic. He cared about her a great deal which may have sounded weird because of his past history of cheating on her.

"Just not in the same way as you love her." Brooke retorted quickly. "And it's okay..." She let out a long sigh, "I've had six months to get used to it and truthfully I'm kind of relieved it's over." Brooke stepped down from the porch and looked up at him. She watched as he opened his mouth to say something so she shook her head, "Don't ask if we can be friends." She said knowing full well that he was going to ask that. "Because we can't."

Lucas nodded and watched as Brooke walked past him. He turned and looked back to his own. This night had in one word; sucked.

----

Lucas looked up at the school building and yawned, he hadn't slept much last night. He looked around and saw Mouth and Skills sitting on one of the benches. It was time to start making that change. He walked over to the group he had once called friends, with his brown back pack hanging from his shoulder. "Hey..." Not exactly the best way to start redeeming friendships but it was a starting point.

The guys all stopped talking and looked over at Lucas. Skills smirked, "Well well well." He repeated, "Look what the cat dragged back, all broken and tired. Guess you're here to make your peace, huh?" He asked honestly.

Lucas nodded, "Something like that."

Skills nodded, "Well it's about time, dog."

Mouth laughed, "Yeah, dog" He watched as all of the guys turned and looked at him unamused. "What? Can't a white boy say it?"

Skills shook his head, "Nah man, some white boys can pull off the whole badass, homie language. But you ain't one of 'em." He leaned over and patted Mouth on the shoulder, "You definitely ain't one of 'em." He repeated standing up from the bench. "Okay, so now that Lucas has come back with his tail between his legs, I say its high time that he earns back his friendships with a little basketball in the gymnasium. I mean what's the point of having a friend on the basketball team if you can't use his privileges." He said referring to the school rule that out of school hours, only basketball team members were allowed to practise in the gymnasium.

"All right..." Lucas said nodding, "But I ain't going easy on ya."

"Pfft." Skills scoffed, "I'm gonna own your ass and show you some really skills!"

Lucas laughed and slowly made his way across the courtyard with Skills, Junk, Fergie and Mouth. He turned and looked at Mark Davidson, the guy Peyton had hooked up with last night and caught a glimpse of the conversation.

"I'm telling ya – Peyton Sawyer, is one hot chick in the sack. Definitely a wild one." He said smacking hands with his friends.

Lucas felt his fists clench instinctively, but unclenched them almost instantly. Peyton had made her choice last night when she had walked away again – it was none of his business who she slept with or who she didn't, she had made that completely obvious to him. So he was just doing what he should have done six months ago – letting her go.


	4. Chapter 4

The rumour mill works overtime in high school because it's a social playground for gossips. Whether they are true or not doesn't seem to affect the rate at which it spreads because people have genuine curiosity about other people's lives. It doesn't matter what social clique you're in, you can never escape a rumour. The popular girls' gossip and spread rumours about the latest scandal, like when the once notorious party boy Nathan Scott started dating Haley who was only known as the weird girl from the tutor centre. They didn't understand why a guy who looks like a younger version Colin Farrell and has a high social standing in the school would date - well someone who they considered, beneath him. There were numerous rumours that floated around at the time about why he had chosen to be with her, the most prominent was that he had, had a drunken one night stand with her and had knocked her up so he was playing the devoted boyfriend, of course that rumour turned out to be false. It's well known that girls like to gossip – while guys like to brag, the same was the case for Mark Davidson who had for the better part of the morning been telling everyone and anyone who would listen about his hot night with Peyton Sawyer.

Peyton raced into the school parking lot and drove into a parking space, breaking quite abruptly. She turned the key in the ignition switching the engine off.

"I had forgotten how bad your driving is..." Nathan quipped from the passengers. At 2am he had received a call from Haley asking him to meet her at Peyton's house. He had just finished clearing up the mess at the beach house and was on his way home to bed – but instead had found himself staying up the entire night helping the girls move furniture and finishing painting Peyton's bedroom. Haley had left early this morning so that she wouldn't miss her first class, Nathan had opted to stay and help Peyton put the finishing touches to her room which had made them miss the morning part of school. He opened the car door and stepped out, walking round the side of the car.

Peyton stepped out of the car and turned to look at Nathan with her brow raised, "I'd keep your mouth shut about my driving otherwise I might have to bring up the little incident six months ago, when you not only stole my car but you crashed it too" She said tilting her head at him, with an un amused facial expression – a facial expression Nathan had come to know well after a year of dating Peyton.

Nathan laughed, "Aw see how great we were together." He was joking obviously, their relationship had been one long disaster, at least that's how he knew Peyton had felt about it. He on the other hand, had actually thought their relationship was kinda great – he may have been a different guy back then, but he had still be in love with her which was why it had been so hard for him to see his former girlfriend close herself off to everyone these past six months. "So Sawyer – you gonna give Lucas a break?" He asked.

Peyton raised her brow, confused. "What do you mean?"

Nathan this time was the one who raised his brow, as if she didn't know. "Oh come on, you know the loser is still into you." Last night was a pure example of that, how Lucas had followed Peyton out of the party on instinct and left his supposed girlfriend alone at the party.

Peyton rolled her eyes, "No offense, but you're probably the last person who should be giving me romance advice and here's why.." She added sarcastically. She made her way towards the school building, knowing that Nathan would follow her into the building. "We used to date so that's conflict of interest," She continued pulling on the set of double doors. "And when we did date you hooked up with every slut in the school behind my back." She turned and looked at Nathan behind her who seemed shocked that she knew, "Shocked I know?" She smirked at him as a way to let him know that it was all in the past and she was okay with it, though just because she was okay with having whored his way around the freshman class it didn't mean she was going to let it slide, for she was going to use it against him whenever he tried to interfere in her life; like he was doing now.

"Slut.."

Peyton turned her head back around and stopped in her tracks. Everyone who was standing in the hallway was staring at her – okay so maybe last night's almost fight was still the hot topic of conversation. As she began to walk down the corridor, with Nathan following slowly behind her she heard many whispers calling her names; ranging from 'slut' to 'bitch' to 'whore.' She stopped halfway down the hallway and turned on her white converse sneakers to a girl, whose name she didn't know but whose face she recognised. "What did you just call me?" Peyton tilted her head slightly and raised her brow, waiting for a response.

"I didn't say anything.." The girl muttered gently and took a step back so that her back was now pressed against the locker.

Peyton took a step closer to her, raising her hand in the air and slamming the locker the girl was standing in front of. "I'm tired of all you grade A super whores walking around the school, strutting your stuff like your America's Next Top Model...here's a newsflash sunshine." Peyton gritted her teeth and growled under her breath. "You should be careful who you call a bitch, cause one day the person you call a bitch might just turn out to be one and then..." Peyton opened her mouth and quickly shut it, biting her teeth together. Peyton felt Nathan's hand tug on her shoulders, pulling her back. "Bye" Peyton smiled sweetly and battered her eyelids at the scared little freshman. As she turned around to walk away she saw Haley, exit the tutoring centre. "Hey Haley.."

Haley stopped and closed her eyes. She didn't want to have to face Peyton, not after everything she had heard this morning. Letting out a deep sigh, she turned and saw Nathan and Peyton standing together in the hallway. "Hey guys.." She slowly and awkwardly walked up to the two of them. As she got within a foot, she watched as Nathan took a step closer to her and lowered his head, planting a kiss on her cheek. "So did you get the room done?"

Nathan nodded, "Not only did we get the room completely finished, but I also now have a strange fascination with South.." He watched as Haley raised her eyebrows confused. "The band?" He turned and looked at Peyton, "They are a band right?"

Peyton smirked, "Yeah...sorry about that," She bit her bottom lip guiltily, she had made Nathan not only listen to her music but she had made him listen to Paint the Silence by South over and over again. For some reason, the song seemed to soothe her and suit her mood earlier. "So I take it the latest scandal is still on how Brooke and I almost got into a fight last night?" Peyton shook her with disbelief, "This is high school, you'd think there would be something better to gossip about than an almost chick fight."

Haley frowned, "Actually that's not making the rounds…" She paused and sighed, deciding that saying it now would be better than to have Peyton find out later. "You're apparent" She paused and swallowed some trapped air in her throat, "rough sexual encounter with Mark Davidson is..." She spoke quickly, almost too quickly for Nathan and Peyton to understand her. She was slightly surprised when Peyton grinned at the comment. "It's not funny...I tried to talk to him earlier but he patted me on the butt and said don't worry sweet cheeks your next."

Peyton's smile faded and in its place a dark frown which she had perfect so well over the years filled its place. "I was smiling because I thought you were joking..."Peyton was trying to process the news in her head. 'Sex... rough?' She was replaying Haley's words in her head, before last night she wouldn't have cared whether rumours were being spread about her sexual habits but after hearing Lucas say that it still mattered to him, it being her – well it changed her. "Great, so I'm this year's whore!" Peyton saw Lucas enter the building from the courtyard, "I'll be right back." She quickly jogged down the hallway, chasing him down. "Luke..." She watched as he stopped and faced her, "You got a sec?"

Lucas looked down to the floor beneath his feet, he did have a second but the truth was he didn't really want to see her. As he looked up into her beautiful emerald coloured eyes it almost made him forget about last night and what he had heard this morning, instead of smiling at her and greeting her with a nice friendly hello, he opted to show and tell her how he was feeling. With a frown he muttered, "Look Peyton..." He shrugged, "You were right last night, it doesn't matter anymore."

Peyton shook her head, "Mark-"

Lucas cut her off, "Look, what you do with whoever you do it with, is none of my business." He said bitterly. The truth was thinking about her with Mark Davidson after he had told her that she still mattered to him made him sick to his stomach. He couldn't look at her without feeling the pain of not being with her.

He wasn't even going to hear her out? Fine, she should have known. Sure one minute he is sprouting his undying love for her and the next he hooks up with her best friend, so she shouldn't have been shocked that he was giving her the cold shoulder. "You know what, you're right it is none of your business." Peyton turned around on her converse sneakers and began to walk away, "I don't know why I thought it would be." She muttered to herself, just loud enough for him to hear her.

Lucas stood there in the hallway and sighed, running his hands through his short blonde hair.

---

--

Haley raised her brow and dipped her fry into her chocolate milkshake. "I don't get it…" She spoke as she pulled the fry out of the milkshake and placed it inside her mouth. "Why would a guy spread a rumour that he slept with someone he didn't?" Haley chewed on the fry while contemplating the complex male mind. "I mean – what did he have to gain?"

"Reputation?" Skills responded… "Bangin' a hottie like P.Sawyer puts him up a notch in my book."

Haley frowned, "That's disgusting…" She rolled her eyes; obviously she was never going to understand the male psyche and its perversions. "You know what I think – I think maybe he's gay" Trying her best to come up with a reasonable excuse as to why that lame ass football player was spreading lies about the girl she had become really close to over the past six months, maybe they didn't have titles but she considered Peyton her girl best friend. "Maybe it's all just a big cover and he's trying to be this big guy on campus," Haley shrugged, "Obviously a guy thing?"

Nathan sat down beside Haley, catching on the end of the conversation. "What's a guy thing?" Nathan looked across the wooden picnic table and nodded to Skills, "Hey man." Ever since he and Haley had started dating, his circle of friends had changed somewhat. He didn't hang out with the basketball team but more the guys at the river court. They were good guys and damn good basketball players; he didn't understand why they hadn't tried out for the team back at the beginning of the year. "So…what's a guy thing?" He asked again, trying to get in on the loop.

"Mark Davidson and his possible homosexuality" Haley responded, the words just rolled off her tongue nicely.

"Yeah." Nathan scoffed at that idea, "No way." He shook his head and took the backpack off of his shoulder, placing it on top of the table. Unzipping the bag, he pulled out the lunch his mother had made him.

"Why not?" Haley asked curiously. "Just because he's a linesman-"

"He's quarterback..." Nathan said correcting her, it was often that he could so he relished the moments when he could.

"Same thing…" Haley responded quickly, "Just because he's this big man on campus, star football player, so called ladies man it doesn't mean he can't be hiding in the closet." Haley picked up another fry and watched as Skills scrunched his face up, knowing her next move. Dipping the fry in the chocolate, she pulled it back out and raised it to Nathan's mouth and fed the fry to him.

Chewing on the fry, Nathan smirked. "Thanks." He turned and looked across the courtyard to the football table, there were cliques in high school and the cliques sat together. The popular, the geeks, the athletes; it seemed that he was sat at the only table that wasn't defined by a clique. "He's been in the closet a lot of times, but usually with a girl." Nathan looked back at Haley and shrugged.

Haley frowned, "Oh well – he's not a gay man in denial but just another jack ass who thinks he's all that." Haley picked up her fork and stabbed a fry with it, pretending it was Mark Davidson's thigh. "Maybe you could go over there and bust his knee caps or something." Haley's eyes lit up, she was joking – in most part.

"Right…" Skills looked at Nathan "skinny white basketball player versus" He looked over to the football table, watching the jocks arm wrestle one another. "a team of over buffed, probably steroid induced football players." Skills grinned, "Oh I know who I'm betting on."

"Hey…" Brooke had been watching tutor girl and Skills for a while before deciding to approach the table, "I'm really sorry for interrupting." She said sincerely, "I just wanted to know how Peyton is." Brooke looked down at her brown Calvin Klein boots, knowing that the overly smart Haley James was without a doubt judging her for caring about Peyton's feelings.

"Apart from being on the end of some ridiculous lies…" Haley looked across the courtyard and rolled her eyes in Mark Davidson's direction, "She's fine."

Brooke looked up from her boots to Haley and then looked across to Mark Davidson's table where tutor girls attention was. "He's such an ass…" Brooke said knowingly. "Back in freshman year, we hooked up and I thought he was a real nice guy…opening doors, paying for a romantic meal. My first real boyfriend…" Brooke turned and looked down at Haley, getting her attention. "Who went and hooked up with Jenna Franks behind my back…broke my pathetic freshman heart." Her attitude towards guys changed after him, she became a player. "Peyton pushed him up against a locker and told him that the next time he even looked at me wrong, she'd kick his ass." Brooke smirked, remembering the moment well. "Listen when you see Peyton…" She paused not knowing what to say, "Never mind." Turning around she walked away from the mix matched table.

Haley watched as Brooke walked away to sit back with the rest of the cheerleaders, okay …so maybe Brooke wasn't the queen of all evil, maybe she was just misunderstood. "What do you think we should do?" She linked arms with Nathan and rested her head on his arm and watched the football group.

Nathan sighed, "There's nothing we can do – unless Peyton wants us to." He spoke rationally, very unlike him and very much like Haley. The truth was he was itching to go over the kick his ass, but Skills was right he was no match for a team of football players who would no doubt jump in and defend their all star quarterback.

---

---

Peyton walked down the school hallway, she had been on the receiving end of quite whispers, loud taunts and even the almost victim of a whore sticker. Tracy Morgan, the girl who sat behind her in English wrote slut on a post it and tried to stick it to her back, thankfully she had the girl's hand brush against her back and instead gave her the well perfected Peyton Sawyer evil stare. The bell had rung over five minutes ago, and most students had quickly sprinted out of school…but not him. Peyton walked up behind the dark haired boy whom she apparently screwed the previous night, "Hello lover…" Peyton tilted her head and watched as the tall football player turned to face her, with a completely shocked/gormless expression plastered all over his face. "You look a little shocked to see me? What you don't call the girl who you've" She air quoted, "Slept with?"

"Peyton…I..."

"Save it, I don't care what you have to say. In fact, I'm gonna let this little rumour make the rounds because and I'm even gonna jump on the band wagon and act like we did do it." Peyton smirked, "Yeah, although in my story your small manhood and impotence is gonna be the main story." Peyton looked down at the floor and grinned, "Yeah, you know what." She looked back up at Mark, "It was hardly rough – your small manhood and impotence problem made you feel a little inadequate."

"You wouldn't da-"

Peyton interrupted him again and this time frowned, "I would and I am…by the time I'm finished with you no girl is gonna wanna go near you." Peyton took a step closer to him, knowing full well that she wasn't making the intended be scared of me impression that she wanted to give off, but he could at least see she was serious. "You chose the wrong girl to have make believe sex with ass hat." Peyton turned to walk away from the jock, but felt his hand grab her arm and spin her back round to face him.

"No-one's gonna believe you…" He grinned, "Who would believe the town's bike?" He gripped her arm tighter and leaned in closer, "Just enjoy the popularity, sweetheart because it'll probably be the last time you'll be in anyone's radar." Letting go of her arm, he winked playfully. "Though if you ever wanna take it up for real, give me a call."

Peyton rubbed her bicep where Mark had been holding onto her arm a second ago, it was sore. She couldn't remember the last time someone had held her too tight, making it hurt. Not one to back down, she pressed her hand against his locker and slammed it shut. "Just enjoy the popularity…" Peyton repeated his words, "Because by the end of the week, you're just gonna be another flaccid jock." She grinned and went to walk away by stepping around him, but he got in her way. Rolling her eyes, she stepped to the right to walk on the inside of him but felt her body get pushed into the lockers by his hips. Hitting her face against one of the locker doors, she let out a small yelp. Pulling her face away from the locker she raised her hand to the side of her face, pressing against the corner of her eyebrow. Pulling her hand away, she looked at the blood on her hand. "Great…add woman beater to the list, jackass."

Peyton stepped around him and headed down the hallway, with her hand pressed against the corner of her eyebrow. Making her way out of the school building, she speedily walked to her car and stepped inside. Looking in her wing view mirror, she turned her head slightly looking at the large cut running down from just above her eyebrow to just below her eye, almost at her cheekbone. She bit down on her bottom, lip and frowned as she gently touched it. "Ass…"

"Peyton…"

Speaking of, Peyton turned and looked up at Lucas who was approaching her car. "What?" She yelled at him, "Here to give me another lecture? Or to confess your undying devotion only to jump into bed with my best friend the next day…no, wait, that was six months ago." She frowned and looked up at him as he got closer.

Pulling out a folder from his bag he threw it in the backseat of her car, "Just giving you the English assignment you missed this morning…" When you were no doubt recovering from your rough sex with Mark Davidson he thought bitterly. He paused midway through his rant, seeing a tiny amount of blood drip down the side of Peyton's face. Leaning down, he pressed his body against the car door and went to touch the side of her face but paused as she pulled back seeing his hand movements. "Peyton what happened?"

Peyton frowned, "I walked into a door…I fell down the stairs…or like you said earlier, it's none of your business." Pushing the car key into the ignition she started up the car, "Pick one." She added revving the engine of the car as she turned her head to look behind her. Pushing the gear into reverse and pressing her foot against the accelerator she reversed out of the car parking space, almost knocking Lucas over in the process.


	5. Chapter 5

What goes around comes around, or at least that's the way it's supposed to go. Back at the start of junior year, Peyton had been dating Nathan Scott for just over a year, a year filled with lies and infidelity and what was his karma; hooking up with one of the nicest, smartest, prettiest girls in school. Peyton's ex best friend Brooke Davis was one of the school's top bitches, spreading rumours and hooking up with other girls' boyfriends and what was her karma; being the most popular girl in school. To her recollection, Peyton had never spread a hurtful rumour and she had never cheated on a boyfriend, and what was her karma?

[1 Dead Mother

[1 Absent Father

[0 Best Friends

[1 Reputation for being a slut

[2 Dark purple bruises on her bicep

[1 Cut Lip.

Oh yeah, what goes around comes around, she thought sarcastically to herself as she looked into the mirror eyeing up her cut lip. All through the drive home from school it had continued to bleed, so she had opted to put some ice on top of it to stop it bleeding and to stop it from swelling up. If she was going to go into school tomorrow the last thing she wanted to do was give Mark Davidson the satisfaction of seeing her looking like a scared little girl, something she hadn't been for a while. "Suck it up Peyton." She frowned at herself, hearing her phone ring. Walking over to her cell she looked at the screen, 'Haley Calling' Sighing, she flipped open her phone. "Hey, what's up?" She asked trying to sound alright.

Across town, inside of Nathan Scott's apartment Haley James was sitting on his sofa working on her history report. "Hey, sorry to be calling so late..." Haley looked across the living room to the adjoining kitchen and stared at the clock, okay so it was eight pm, it was hardly late. "I just wondered if I left history book at your house last night?" She asked curiously, she had searched Nathan's apartment high and low for the book and hadn't found it.

Peyton walked over to her computer desk inside of her nook, her own private space where she listened to music, worked on her computer and drew. She picked up the heavy history book and bit her bottom lip, placing it back down on the computer desk. "No, sorry...haven't seen it." She lied, she had figured if Haley knew that the book was in fact at Peyton's then she would call by to pick it up and that was the last thing Peyton wanted. She wanted to be alone and to practise her makeup so that when she went into school tomorrow, the cut lip which was at this moment in time very much visible on her face would be hidden.

"Are you sure?" Haley asked sounding desperately. She had been putting off this report for the past week and it was due in two days, the last thing she wanted to do was to go into school tomorrow and work on her free period on the paper. "Crap, well there goes my date with Nathan tomorrow night."

Peyton sighed, she hated lying to Haley after all Haley had done for her these past three months. She had been a friend, a true friend when no one else had. "Sorry Haley." She walked back into her bedroom, with the cordless phone still pressed up against her ear. "I'll look for it tonight and if I find it, I'll give it to you tomorrow at school."

Haley smiled and watched as Nathan walked out of the bedroom in a pair of basketball shorts, showing off his wet, six pack stomach and nipple ring. It was hard for her to see him like that, it made her want to be with him physically but she was firm and standing by her beliefs; no sex before marriage. "Yeah thanks, I'll see you tomorrow!" She spoke into the phone.

"See ya." Peyton hung up and let out a deep sigh. She hated lying period but it felt worse lying to a friend. Walking back over to the mirror she leaned in closer and touched her bottom lip, it was time to test out the cover up.

--

--

Lucas had been working on his history report for the last couple of hours, but he needed a break. Six months ago, he would have started the essay the night it was assigned but over the past few months with the changes in his life; playing basketball for the ravens, dating Brooke Davis, hanging out with the so called popular kids, he had become an academically lazy. Now things were different, he was trying to become that guy again; the guy who doesn't put off assignments until the night before their due, the guy who doesn't go to parties and get wasted every night for no reason what's so ever. He was becoming the old Lucas Scott, no girlfriend, just a simple guy with a simple life of hanging out with his real friends and having a real conversation with his best friend. He stopped typing, he stopped all of the thoughts running through his head as a song started to play through his laptop speakers.

_Watching terrible TV_

_It kills all thought_

_Getting spacier than an astronaut_

_Making out with people I hardly know or like_

_I can't believe what I do late at night_

_I wanna know what it's like on the inside of love_

_I'm standing at the gates_

_I see the beauty above_

_Only when we get to see the aerial view will the patterns show_

_We'll know what to do_

_I know the last page so well_

_I can't read the first so I just don't start_

_It's getting worse_

_I wanna know what it's like on the inside of love_

_I'm standing at the gates_

_I see the beauty above_

_I wanna know what it's like on the inside of love_

_I can't find my way in_

_I try again and again_

He was almost completely unaware of anything around him as he listened to the song, the Nada Surf song Peyton had put onto a mix CD and given to him before a game night. Pausing the song near to the end, he lifted the laptop from his lap and placed it onto the bed. Standing up from his four foot bed, he slipped on his sneakers and picked up his jacket from the floor. He was being impulsive, he was going to go over to her house ; maybe he would knock and they would talk or maybe he would just stand outside of her house staring up at her bedroom window like some crazed stalker but he needed to do something. As he pulled on the door which connected him room to the outside porch, he stood there stunned. "Brooke?"

Brooke looked up; she was just about to place the white box she was carrying on the floor to knock. "Hey..." She said startled at seeing him, which was stupid because she was the one who had gone over to his house, to see him. "Um, sorry just to drop by but I was cleaning my room, trying to do a whole Zen thing and I came across some of your stuff." She looked down at the box, which was barely filled as it should have been. They had dated for a while, it should have been filled with gifts he had made her, presents he had bought her and things with sentimental value but it wasn't, it was just a few items of clothing and a CD he had left at her house. Their relationship hadn't been sentimental, they weren't in love at least not in the way they should have been, their relationship was basically sex and comfort and she knew that now, she accepted that had been their relationship. "Here..." She handed the box to him and began to turn around to walk away.

Lucas looked down at the box and sighed, "I'm sorry." He couldn't remember if he had ever said that to her before, he had become a gigantic ass over the past few months that he had been lacking a sensitivity chip. Watching as she turned back around to look up him, he repeated himself. "I'm really am, I never meant to hurt you."

"I know." Brooke said understandingly, "Its okay, I get it now." She smirked and watched a look of confusion fill Lucas's face. "You were only with me because she didn't..." She paused choosing to rephrase her words, "She couldn't be with you." She being Peyton, and by couldn't she meant that Peyton had always kept her heart closed off to people, not by choice but by instinct. "And I was with you because I wanted to be loved like that; I wanted someone to look at me the way you look at her." Brooke shrugged her shoulders gently, "We both screwed up."

Lucas nodded, they had. He had screwed up by getting into a relationship with a girl he was only really physically attracted to and not emotionally and staying in that relationship...he understood now, that Brooke had screwed up because she had chosen anyone rather than the someone "I know we're a long way off from being friends, but one day I'd be honoured to call you my friend Brooke Davis."

"Not a long way" Brooke reported back, "But you can expect the evil stares from across the courtyard to stop." She joked playfully. The one friendship she had needed to get back before she could ever really be true friends with anyone, as her best friend Peyton. So they weren't talking right now, and they had almost gotten into a fight the other night at the party but Brooke believed that she and Peyton would be friends again, someday. It was going to be her challenge and she never failed at something when she put her mind, body and soul into it. She looked down at the box and then to his jacket, he was obviously going somewhere so she didn't want to keep him any longer than needed be. "See ya around, broody!" Brooke looked up and grinned.

"Bye cheery!" He joked back, watching as Brooke walked across his porch and down the steps, away from him, peacefully. Looking down at the box filled with reminders of the guy he didn't want to be, he put them down on the porch and closed his door. Hopefully when he was gone someone would run by his house, see the box and steal it without actually looking inside – at least then he wouldn't have to deal with the new him, which was going to become the old him.

--

--

Peyton finished the final touches on her face. Pulling back from the mirror, she looked herself up and down. The long sleeved stereophonics t-shirt was a must for tomorrow, she couldn't walk around in one of her normal off the shoulder tees because then she would be parading the two dark purpled colour bruises on her biceps and she could hardly wear her jacket all day, so she figured that a long shirt would be more appropriate. Her face on the other hand was hardly appropriate; she was made out like a street hooker. Foundation on her face, heavily black eye lined and mascaraed eyes to take the focus away from her heavily red lip glossed lips which barely concealed the cut lip. Letting out a deep, unsatisfied sigh she threw her eyeliner against the wall.

"Knock knock."

Peyton looked out of the corner of her eyes to see Lucas Scott, the one and only standing in her doorway. Turning around, folding her arms across her chest she gave him her well practised pissed off glare, "What the hell do you think you're doing?" She looked around her bedroom, which she, Haley and Nathan had only decorated last night and then back to him. "Ever heard of a doorbell?" She asked bitterly.

Lucas decided to ignore the last question as of course it was rhetorical. He stepped further into the bedroom looking around; it had changed from the last time he had been inside. He almost expected it to be darker and filled with depressing art, a dartboard with his picture covering the bulls eye...something to show Peyton's transformation these past few months, but there was nothing. If anything the room looked peaceful. "You going out?" He presumed by her heavily made up face, though the low cut jeans and long sleeved t-shirt she was supporting was hardly 'club' wear.

"Yeah, the guy I slept with last night is coming to pick me up." She spat back at him, "So if you don't mind." Peyton walked over to the door and held it open for him.

Lucas stood still in the centre of Peyton's bedroom, he wasn't going anywhere. So what if Mark Davidson was going to show up at any moment, he would just have to wait. "I'm not going anywhere." Lucas said in a defiant tone, he was now getting irritated by her always pushing him away. She had been doing it ever since they first met, and it was really starting to get a little worn out. "We need to talk."

"Sure," Peyton shrugged, "Right after I call the 911 telling them that some crazy ass stalker has broken into my house." She grinned, "Breaking and entering and only a minor, I think that's at least juvie worth material." Peyton was trying her best to get him to leave her house, she wasn't in the mood to entertain guests if she had been then she would have told Haley to come on by and pick up her history book, but she hadn't. She hadn't invited Haley over and she sure as hell didn't want Lucas Scott in her house.

"I'm getting really tired of this Peyton." Okay, so it was the new Lucas Scott coming up to play. The old Lucas Scott would have respected her wishes and walked away with his tail between his legs like a coward, not wanting to confront her but he wasn't going to do that. "I'm getting tired of you jerking me around, one minute you don't want to be with me and the next you do...then you completely ignore me for months and hook up with every guy in school, really classy." He spoke with complete bitterness. Sure he was being an ass, he hadn't come over here to have this conversation he had come over to have a conversation about them, about a possible them but thinking of her with different guys, night after night it made him mad.

"So you came by to call me a slut?" Peyton frowned, "Is that it? Because like I said I have a hot date coming by any moment." She lied.

"I told you last night that it still mattered to me, that you still mattered to me..." He wasn't speaking with bitterness in his voice but heartache. "And you went and hooked up with the jerk of the school, did I ever mean anything to you Peyton?" He asked her trying to find an answer in her heavily almost hidden eyes. He knew that was the place to look for his answers, she could lie with her mouth but not with her eyes.

She didn't say anything, she couldn't. She knew only too well that if she said that he didn't mean anything, he would see right through that because she wasn't a great liar but if she told him that he did mean something, that he does then they would walk down that road again and then what, he would hook up with Brooke again? Her heart couldn't take another rejection. Peyton cleared her throat, "You should go."

Lucas nodded, it was the answer he was looking for. She did care, she still did but she was still hurting. So was he, but he knew what he had to do now – he had to stop standing idly by, he had to merge the old reluctant to open his heart to people Lucas Scott with the new confrontational Lucas Scott. He had to convince her that he wasn't going to hurt her, not again.

Peyton slammed the door shut, so that hopefully he would get the message not to come round again, not to try to talk to her again. But behind the closed door, she melted to the floor, sobbing quietly away on the floor. She was tired of being the victim.

--

--

Peyton stepped out of her open top car and closed the car door behind her. With her school bag hanging off of her shoulder, she made her way up the pathway towards the school but changed direction slightly heading for the jock group. She smirked and tapped Mark gently on the shoulder, knowing that all eyes were still on her. Of course they were, yesterday she was the most talked about person in school, so it was only natural that people would be watching her. "Excuse me, " She said softly to the other football players. "I just thought you should all know that your football buddy over here is a liar." She grinned, "We didn't have sex, I've never had sex with Mark Davidson and frankly I would rather kiss a baboon's ass than put my lips anywhere near his lips or any part of his body." It felt good to confront her feelings, she felt strong. "And thanks for the bruises." She said raising her bare arm in the air, "It'll really help when I talk to principal Turner about sexual harassment and get you kicked off of the football team. " She looked around the little group, okay so she was probably going to be the most hated girl in school for going to nark on the school's all star quarterback, but she didn't care. "Have a nice day." She giggled turning around, making her way from the group of jocks and all of the eyes that were watching her. She walked into the school with pride, her face completely bare of make up sporting her cut lip; maybe it made her look like the victim but it made her feel completely opposite, for once she felt completely in control.


	6. Chapter 6

High school is more of a fashion parade for the middle class teenage girl than a learning facility. They come to school branding the latest fashion, sporting neatly applied makeup and wearing heels which they can barely walk in. Once upon a time, when she had tried to blend in with her social clique she had worn the pretty clothes, had her face made up to perfection and was an all around cheerleader: smile and look pretty. Peyton was no longer that girl, today she was sporting her usual casual denim low cut jeans and a thin strapped top, displaying two large purple bruises on her skinny bicep and her cut lip. As she walked down the corridor, she blanked out her surroundings with the help of her trusty i-pod and cheap trick. "I want you to want me.." She mumbled to herself, hurling a book from her backpack inside of the locker.

"Peyton…" Brooke walked up behind Peyton and paused, obviously her former blonde best friend hadn't heard her or she had heard her call her name, but was ignoring her. "Peyton," She repeated herself quietly, this time extending her arm to tap Peyton on the shoulder to get her attention.

Peyton turned her head at the sudden touch and looked at Brooke blankly; pulling her earphones she raised her brow. "What?" She frowned, all day she had been blasted by other students because earlier in the day she had walked into the principals office and told him everything that had happened yesterday, about the rumour, about Mark blocking her way causing her to hit her face against the locker and ever since then, she had been side stepped all day by her class mates, calling her a backstabbing bitch and every other insult under the sun. "Here to tell me what a lying bitch I am? Or my favourite yet, attention seeking whore looking to take down the football team because I'm so bitter over not being a cheerleader." She spoke sarcastically.

"No…" Brooke sighed, she had heard through the grapevine various stories about how Peyton had gotten the cut lip and bruised arm; most involving gratuitous, rough sexual encounters with biker boys. "Everyone is just lashing out because we're losing the star quarterback. Mark was suspended from the football team this morning" She said trying to reason why Peyton was on the end of such backlash from the school

"What a loss to our school, I'll be sure to shed a tear" She joked, slamming her locker door shut. Throwing her backpack on her shoulder she shrugged, "Thanks for the update." Walking past Brooke, she headed off down the corridor placing her earphones back into her ears to drown out the whispers.

Brooke let out a deep sigh and watched her friend walk away. Not exactly the way she wanted the conversation to go but at least Peyton didn't yell at her or even worse, ignore her. Maybe it was progress, she thought to herself. "Hey tutor girl." Brooke walked over to the entrance to the tutor center as Haley walked out of the door, "You got a sec?"

Haley looked around curiously, was Brooke openly talking to her? Sure she had been dating Nathan Scott, the all round basketball star of the Tree Hill Ravens for the past six months but that didn't mean that the other popular kids in school were ready to give her the time of day. "Uh, depends…do you want blood?" She asked

"Uh.." Brooke raised her brow completely confused, "No…but I do need to ask you a question." Brooke watched as Haley nodded and began to walk down the school hallway, following her she walked by her side. "Have you spoken to Peyton today? I just spoke to her just now but she wasn't really in the mood for talking – so I was wondering whether I could be her friend vicariously through you, and ask you how she is?"

Vicariously: a big word for a cheerleader, Haley thought somewhat bitterly. "Um, I don't think I can be much help. She's been pretty much been dodging me all day but I'm sure she's fine." Lie, she had gotten to know Peyton very well over the past six months and had come to know that Peyton was never really okay, she always just put up a front. "Well…not fine as in singing about the birds chirping and the sun shining…but fine for Peyton, I guess"

Brooke smiled, "Thanks…" She was grateful for Haley being honest with her, "I mean it." Brooke raised her hand to her stomach and waved to Haley before turning around on her Miss Sixty three inch heels, heading down the hallway towards her next class.

--

--

"Listen up and listen good, your English teacher is absent today so that would usually mean a free period for you but unfortunately for you and I, our timetables clash so that means usually that would mean you're stuck with me for the next hour." Coach Durham frowned, he wasn't exactly keen to be stuck in a classroom filled with hormonal teenagers, it was bad enough coaching a basketball team filled with arrogant jocks. "Luckily Edmunds left ya'll group assignments, so you won't be getting on my nerves." He walked over to the blackboard and posted the list of groups on there. "Alphabetical order, so for those of you who don't know how it goes…A, B, C and so forth. Groups of three." He let out a deep sigh. "Now scoot – go wherever you want just don't be a pain in the ass when you get there." He was brazen, no need to sugar coat his annoyance at being asked to baby-sit a class.

Peyton frowned and leant further back in her chair as she watched the rest of her classmates stand up and make their way towards the blackboard. She wasn't particularly eager to find out who she was working with, she was planning on skipping out on the class ASAP anyways.

"Sawyer…" Coach Durham belted out as though she were the other end of the country, "You're with Scott…" He paused and grinned, "And Scott…" No need to identify which Scott, as she was going to be working with both of them.

Peyton grinned, "Lucky me." She stood up from her desk and picked up her backpack. Walking past Lucas and Nathan's desks, she made her way out of the classroom hoping and wishing that they wouldn't follow her. Hearing their footsteps behind her apparently she had no such luck. Turning around she frowned at the two of them, "Did one of you pick up the assignment?" The two brothers looked at one another and then back to her, Peyton rolled her eyes. "Well don't you think it would be a start? I'll be in the courtyard." She turned and stomped her way through the hallway, letting her white sneakers bang heavily against the concrete floor.

Lucas turned and looked at Nathan, "Hey listen could you give us a minute?" He asked politely, wanting to spend some alone time with Peyton, to talk to her, to make sure she was alright.

Nathan nodded, "Sure, I'll just grab the assignment." The truth was he didn't want to go, he wanted to go out into the courtyard himself and talk to Peyton, to see how she was and after he had talked to her, he wanted to go find that football jock and beat the crap out of him for hurting her.

Lucas turned and made his way out of the school building into the courtyard. He made his way over to the wooden table and bench, where Peyton had perched herself. Sitting opposite her, he placed his bag down on the floor and looked at her from across the table. "So…how you doing?"

"Just peachy" She responded instinctively, she was tired of people asking her how she was.

"You don't seem it." Lucas replied.

Peyton let out a deep sigh and peeled her eyes away from the wooden panels covering the table to look into his baby blues, "Is that your expert opinion, Dr Scott?" She grinned knowing full well that she was being a bitch, but he didn't deserve her honesty. He didn't deserve anything from her.

"How did it happen?" He asked, trying to get her to open up. Maybe if he didn't give up asking her questions, maybe if he didn't give up showing her that he really did care about her then maybe she would open up to him.

"Haven't you heard?" Peyton grinned, "Things got a little rough in the sack, apparently just the way I like it." The sarcasm in her voice was practically screaming out, she was tired of the rumours, the whispers. Tapping her nails against the wooden bench, she looked over to the entrance to the school building waiting for Nathan to emerge so that she wouldn't have to be alone with Lucas any more than she had to be. Peyton looked over at Lucas and let out a deep sigh, leaning further back into the bench. "I got all up in his face yesterday about the so called sex we had and when I was trying to dodge out of the way, I hit my face against the locker."

Lucas nodded, trying his best to stay calm, "And the bruises?" He said nodding down at her arm, while keeping his eyes fixed on hers. "Do that on the locker too?" He asked in a tone which suggested that he didn't believe her story about hitting her face against the locker; he figured she was just covering for him.

Peyton shook her head and picked up her pencil and tapped it against the wooden table, "Noooo" She said lengthening her answer, "those are the result of him grabbing my arm to stop me from leaving…I guess I just bruise easily" She let out a deep sigh and looked back over to the school entrance, why was she being so openly honest with him? "Is doesn't take too many brain cells to find your way around the school." She spoke about Nathan's so far absentness from their group assignment. "Must be a Scott thing." She turned back and looked at Lucas with a grin plastered to her face.

Lucas was too busy replaying the scene of Peyton trying to get away from Mark in his head, trying his best to picture how it all went down. He wished he could turn back time, so that he could be her white knight and stop her from getting hurt – he so badly wanted to go back to yesterday, walk into the school hallway just when Mark had grabbed Peyton's arm and then jumped in to save the day and give the football jock a beating. He clenched his fists just thinking about it and frowned, "Why didn't you tell me yesterday?"

"Because I didn't need you running in to save the day, I'm a big girl and I can take care of myself." She said defensively.

"Obviously…" He said sharply looking back at the bruises on her arms and then the cut on her lip. "You've done a good job so far." Why was he being brazen with her? She hadn't done anything wrong, but he couldn't help himself. In his mind, he thought that if she would have just said something yesterday then he could have done something.

"And here was me thinking that you were going to say something thoughtful like, Peyton I'm sorry that it happened to you…or Peyton you didn't deserve it." Peyton rolled her eyes annoyed at his arrogance or whatever attitude he was trying to give her. Grabbing her bag from the table she stood up from the bench and sighed, "I'm done waiting."

Lucas on impulse stood up from the bench and scurried around the table and stood in front of Peyton blocking her exit route, probably the same thing Mark did yesterday he thought. Sucking on his bottom lip, he looked down onto her from his six foot one stature and stared into her emerald coloured eyes "So am I…" He had been waiting long enough for her to open up to him so he was taking a stand, stopping her from leaving but giving her the choice to, if she wanted to.

Peyton without thought, without thinking anything through leaned forward on her tip toes and lifted herself slightly, colliding her lips with his. As she kissed him, she felt her body and more prominently her being pulled closer to his by his hands, which were currently pressed against the side of her face covering parts of her cheek and her ears. As Peyton pulled away from the kiss, she knew that Lucas would want to talk about it, would want to analyse what it meant but she wasn't ready for that. She watched his eyes search hers, she knew he was looking for something from her. Peyton walked past Lucas and headed across the courtyard towards the car park, she turned her head and grinned back at Lucas whose attention was as usual focused as completely on her


	7. Chapter 7

"We can't…" She whispered unevenly into the night air. He didn't answer. How many times had she replayed this scene in her mind? Ten, twenty…a hundred? She knew how this scene would play out as soon as their eyes locked onto one another. She had thought of nothing else since then. Peyton felt the force of his lips on hers, the rough stubble from his chin grazing against her face. She could feel the heat of his body on her, around her, it was wrong how it felt so familiar. His lips moved from her lips, to the side of her mouth, to her cheek, the bottom of her jaw line, to the indent of her collarbone. "Lucas…."

Peyton woke up dazed and confused. It had been a while since she had dreamt. Her dreams had disappeared six months ago along with her best friend, her potential boyfriend and apparently her life. She sat up in her bed slowly and ran her fingers through her slightly damp blonde curls. Why was her mind so fogged over with thoughts of Lucas? So, she had kissed him that afternoon, big deal. It was just an impulsive kiss, right? Peyton yawned deeply and rubbed her sleep ridden eyes, what time was it? She turned and looked at the alarm clock on her bedside table. Two thirty? Damn it, Lucas! She cussed at the thought of his name, why did he have to do this to her? Ass!

* * *

Lucas walked into the school courtyard feeling unusually upbeat and optimistic about the day. For the past six months he had been walking around with a dark cloud hanging over his head but he was on his road to redemption; re-establishing old friendships he had let go of, finding the passion he had felt for basketball before the ominous cloud had appeared and not to mention the prospect of hope.

"Morning Broody…" Brooke walked up to Lucas and smiled up at him from under her perfectly sculpted long eyelashes. It was unlike her to be at school earlier than needed but as the run up to the cheerleading regionals approached, she found herself more dedicated to doing better, to being better. He looked happy, a genuine smile was planted on his face, a smile she hadn't seen in a while. "It's gonna be a good day." She spoke confidentially.

"I think it is," He looked down at the beautiful brunette and smiled. Lucas watched as Brooke nodded at began to walk away. He followed her, keeping pace. "You know Brooke, I know you said it was gonna take a while for us to be friends…but I was hoping…"

"That a while wouldn't be so long because you're missing my fantastic company?" She interrupted, finishing his sentence for him. Brooke shrugged and threw a grin his way, "As much as I would like to be friends with you Lucas, if only to copy your math homework, I think I need to work on another friendship before we start rebuilding our bridge" the other friendship being Peyton, the only other person in the world who had truly loved her for who she was. "Speaking of…" Brooke looked across the courtyard, into the school parking lot. "Damn! Peyton doesn't need a bell round her neck, you can hear her weird music from here." To Brooke, weird music consisted of anything that wasn't in the top 100.

Lucas watched as Peyton carefully. It was a craft he had perfected over the years, watching Peyton Sawyer from afar. Even from afar he could see that she was wearing one of her favourite AC/DC's tee's. He grinned; change was constant that was true, but to him, Peyton could never really change. Even after months of watching her give herself willingly to any guy who showed a slight interest in her hadn't changed her, she was still the same girl he had watched or more appropriately named… stalked…

"Ooo" Brooke frowned watching as Peyton's face became more visible to her. Peyton was directly at the two of them, with a scowl fixed on her face. "I hope that wasn't meant for me." She hoped aloud, how was she going to win back P.Sawyer's friendship if the girl was giving her evil death stares. Maybe she had seen her and Lucas together and put two and two together and come out with five. Not good.

"I think it was meant for me," Lucas responded, confusion filling his voice. Yesterday she had kissed him, smiled and walked away. Somehow, over twelve hours her smirk had turned to a scowl.

Brooke looked up at Lucas and bit her bottom lip, "Tough break." She patted his shoulder, as a friend would. It was a good thing for her that the scowl was meant for Lucas.

Peyton pushed on the double doors and made her way down the practically empty hallway. At her locker, she threw her things inside and slammed her locker shut, not attempting to hide her annoyance.

"Whoa," Haley approached Peyton from behind and covered her ears. The noise of the locker slamming shut made a large echo sound down the hallway. "Wake up on the wrong side of the bed this morning?" She half joked, trying to get a smile from Peyton which at this moment she figured would be like trying to get blood from a stone. Peyton's scowl didn't lessen. "Fall out of bed this morning?" She asked taking a guess at the mood. She waited again for some kind of response but nothing, "Did you even sleep in a bed?"

"I didn't get much sleep last night," Peyton admitted. She and Haley didn't keep any secrets from one another. Over the past six months, Haley had become her replacement best friend – they shared the same taste in hobbies, music and apparently guys; Nathan being Peyton's ex boyfriend and Haley's current one. Peyton headed down the hallway, her black ankle boots tapping against the stone floor. "And before you ask, my lack of sleep has nothing to do with some kinky non-bed sexual fantasy you were thinking of ten seconds ago…" Peyton frowned again, "And no, I didn't have company last night. I was completely alone in my room… alone in my room but not alone in my dreams." Peyton's scowled deepened. Why had she kissed Lucas? He was obviously the key to some sort of emotional flood gate. Ass!

"What?" Haley's brow burrowed together in confusion. "Oh,"…She paused and her eyes widened as the realisation hit her. "OH!" A small part of her didn't want to know about Peyton's fantasies, the other part though, the larger part of her was so curious as to who she was dreaming about. "It was Lucas wasn't it…" She guessed with a goofy grin on her face. As far as she was aware, Peyton and Lucas's relationship was non-existent. Her own friendship with Lucas had only just gotten back on track, she hadn't really asked him about his relationship with Peyton, or even asked him how he felt about her…not that she needed to. It was obvious, just by looking at his face how completely and utterly in love with Peyton Sawyer that boy was. "You dreamt about Lucas last night!"

Peyton turned to her locker and entered the combination. She opened the locker and turned her attention back to Haley. Her frown remained in place as she slammed her locker shut again, this time without looking.

"Cut the dramatics, you're not a drama queen, cheerleader anymore!" Haley sighed. She couldn't understand why Peyton couldn't just move forward. Obviously she had issues and with good reason; her mother was dead, her father was never home, she had been betrayed by her best friend and the guy she secretly liked. But why couldn't she move forward and try to get past it, why did she always have to stay in the darkness? "So…" Haley grinned and stepped next to Peyton, buddy bumping her hip against Peyton's. She grinned, knowing that her optimism would break through Peyton's hardcore façade. "What does the dream mean? That you're ready to move forward? That you're not so secretly eyeing up Lucas?" She raised her brow twice, suggestively.

"The dream probably means…" Peyton shrugged indifferently, "that maybe it's been a while since I got some and I need to…" Peyton paused knowing better than to express her inner, sexual desires to Haley. As much as she liked her new found best friend, she didn't want to push the limits of their friendship. With Brooke it was different, she was more sexually aware not to mention she would be the one who usually instigated the sex conversation. Haley was more…conservative, was the best word. She didn't believe in sex before marriage, she disapproved of casual dating and she certainly didn't condone casual sex – something Peyton had been having a lot these past six months. "The kiss on the other hand," Peyton paused, knowing that would get Haley's full attention.

"Kiss?" Haley raised her brow in confusion, "What kiss?" Haley turned and looked up at Peyton. Sometimes she felt little pangs of jealousy towards Peyton for a number of reasons; her height, her natural beauty, her long slim legs and even her experience. Peyton had after all dated her boyfriend, her Nathan – and had the other Scott trailing after her too. Being the youngest sibling, meant that she had always been left out of the loop. Her older sisters clicked together and discussed anything and everything behind closed doors, not once had they invited her in to have the girl talk.

"I might have spontaneously kissed Lucas yesterday." Peyton said matter of factly.

"Miss Sawyer…"

Peyton turned her head slightly and looked over her shoulder at Principal Turner who was standing behind her. "Principal Turner…" Her tone turned confused, it was a little early to be hauling her to the principals office for something she hadn't done yet. Her attitude in class had improved lately, she was no longer arriving late to lessons or muttering under her breath when a teacher called on her to answer a question.

"I need to speak to you in my office."

* * *

The bell rang and class was over. Lucas had to sit through an hour of listening to Coach Durham talk about William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. Before it had been one of his favourite plays of Shakespeare's, but after listening to the Coach slaughter the old English language with his husky, non interested tone and involuntary grunts at the romantic lines, the play had quickly lost its appeal. As he packed up his notepad and his book, he looked over his shoulder at an empty chair; Peyton's empty chair. She hadn't shown up to the class and his niggling self doubt was hitting an all time high; she had scowled at him this morning before school and now she had ditched English probably so she wouldn't have to see him, or talk to him.

"Hey man," Nathan walked up behind Lucas and glanced over his shoulder at the empty chair which had had Lucas's attention for the past hour, "She's not there you know..".

"What?" Lucas asked, "Who?" He asked feigning not to know who Nathan was talking about. Lucas sighed and gathered his belongings throwing them into his backpack. "She scowled at me in the parking lot earlier this morning," Lucas grabbed the bag and placed it on his shoulder and began to make his towards the door of the classroom. "Yesterday she kisses me and today she scowls at me, how do those two even go hand in hand?" He asked trying to connect the dots, what had changed between the kiss and smirk she had give him yesterday and the I want to Kill you scowl she had aimed at him this morning.

"This is Peyton we're talking about." Nathan reminded him, "She's not your run of the mill, average, bitchy teenage girl…she's like the Supergirl of them, but with good reason." Peyton carried around with her years of baggage. Her mother had died a few years ago, which had left her broken and filled with guilt. Her father was never around, as Nathan knew very well from all of the late night booty calls he had at her house – and to top it all of, her best friend of twelve years had started dating the one guy she had ever truly liked. He wasn't insightful, no, she had basically told him as much when he had helped paint her room the other night. "You know when we were painting her room the other night, she kept talking about regrets, how she had more than anyone else she knew. Regret over asking her mom to pick her up from school that day, regret over not telling her dad how she really feels about him working away from home…" Nathan watched as Lucas turned to look at him, raising his brow. "You know, when Peyton and I were together she was trapped inside of a shell. Not once did we have a conversation about how she was feeling, not once did she open up to me. We dated for almost two years." He paused and thought back to their fiery relationship, he had loved Peyton but he had never truly known her. Over the past six months he had seen the real Peyton Sawyer, the broken, lost girl that she was. "How long was it before she was opening her heart to you, Luke? A couple of weeks…The girl who had never opened up to me, or even her best friend of thirteen years …opened her heart to you." Nathan walked up to his brother gently patted his shoulder, "You wanna know what one of her biggest regrets is Lucas, it's you…."

Lucas turned and watched as his brother walked out of the classroom. He mulled that over in his mind, what the hell did it mean? Did it mean that Peyton regretted opening her heart to him because of the way he had abused it. Six months ago she had knocked at his door, heart in her hand and offered it to him. But he couldn't take it, not because he didn't want to but because he was scared to. She had broken him before, he was scared that if he opened himself up to her again it would happen all over again. Not to mention, Brooke had walked out dressed in one of his tops before he had a chance to really respond. That had been game over. Peyton had turned a cold shoulder to both him and her best friend. Or…and now it clicked into place. That night she had come over to his house she had told him how she had wanted everything that he did, but she was scared. That night she confessed one of her biggest regrets to him; she had regretted walking away that night when he had offered his heart to her. Lucas wandered out of the classroom in a daze at his sudden revelation, okay, maybe it wasn't his revelation considering Nathan had basically pointed it out to him.

"Howdy ho loser," Haley walked up to her best friend and quickly buddy bumped against his hip. "So what's this I hear about a kiss yesterday with a certain blonde curly head friend of mine?" Haley looked up at Lucas and quickly took his in bewildered expression. "Hellooo?" She raised a hand in front of his face and waved at him, trying to snap him back to reality. "Earth to Lucas…."

"What?" He looked down at his short best friend with confused eyes, she had snapped him out of his trance. "Sorry, I was…"

"Miles away thinking about a kiss with a certain blonde curly haired friend of mine," She repeated and watched as a small grin touched his face. "Okay, so someone please fill me in on the details like, When? Where? Why? How?" She found it extremely hard to contain her excitement, finally there was some movement on the Lucas and Peyton front, were they both coming out of their hiding places and stepping into the light? "I mean the last thing I remember was you giving her the silent treatment over Mark and now you've got her kissing and dreaming about you? Where was I when all of this was going on?" She paused and watched as Lucas tilted his head, and his smile widen. "Right, bad Haley…I probably shouldn't have told you that." She spoke about the dreaming part, she was ninety nine percent sure that Peyton didn't want that conversation public knowledge. At least, that's what Haley had gathered from her best friend's mood this morning.

"Is this some kind of intervention you and Nathan cooked up trying to get me back with Peyton?" Lucas asked stupidly. Back with Peyton? He had never been with Peyton to begin with, but with all of their history it felt like he had. It felt like she was a part of him that had been broken off and had gotten lost somewhere and now he was searching for it, trying to reattach the broken piece of himself.

"No, why?" Haley raised her brow confused. She hoped that Nathan hadn't said anything she had told him in confidence. Over the past six months, with Lucas being AWOL, Haley had opened her heart to Nathan in a big way and had confessed all of her thoughts and secrets with him, most of her thoughts surrounding Lucas, his superficial romance with Brooke and his inner desires to be with Peyton. "What did he say?"

"Nothing really…" Lucas looked around distracted, trying to find Peyton. Nathan had basically told him to stand up and be a man, go after what he wants and have no regrets. At least that's how he was interpreting part of his conversation with his half brother, "He basically opened my eyes and showed me something…which I think I've known all along."

"Which is?" Haley asked intrigued.

"That Peyton wants to be with me…"

Haley tried to think of a witty response. Of course she does, you moron? What are you blind? Where the hell have you been for the last six months? All of which were incredibly ill suited for the moment, so instead she opted to go for clichéd one which just spoke volumes, "Um, I think the phrase is no S, Sherlock!" She reached up and slapped the side of his head.

Lucas couldn't help but grin at his best friend's inability to swear. Whenever she was made she would always use an abbreviation of a cuss word, she was never one to be crude, rude or ignorant, it was one of her finest qualities. "You know sooner or later Hales, you're gonna learn to cuss properly…just hang around with Skills long enough and you'll be cussing every other sentence."

"Please," Haley scoffed, "I'm with Nathan almost twenty four seven and with him comes his little package, Tim and the rest of the basketball team who all swear like sailors." Haley shook her head, "Nope, I've been vaccinated against everything and anything juvenile!" She looked up at Lucas and smiled; he was boyishly handsome, he always had been – but his eyes only ever shone like that when he was seeing, thinking or talking about Peyton Sawyer.

* * *

It was lunchtime and Peyton hadn't been in any of her classes. Brooke frowned, today was a fresh new beginning she had told herself. She was determined to become her old happy self again which included one feisty curly haired best friend. They had barely spoken to each other in the past six months and a few weeks back they had almost got into a cat fight at one of Nathan's post-basketball parties, but that was then and this was now. Brooke had secretly wished that by breaking up with Lucas, the two former best friends would miraculously reunite. Obviously that wasn't the case.

"What's up Brooke?"

Brooke looked across the table at one of her fellow populars and shrugged, she could hardly get into a hearty conversation with any of them about how her life for the past six months felt so shallow. They were all in the same boat – only none of them had experienced the kind of friendship she had had with Peyton. Brooke smiled, putting on her happy face. "Nothing, I was just thinking about some new routines to jazz up our cheers." She lied convincingly. Brooke watched as the girls around the table all broke out into different conversations, adding their inputs on how they could jazz up the cheers. Brooke found herself once again searching the courtyard for a set of blonde curls but instead she found herself starting over at Haley James. "I'll be right back…" She muttered before standing up and leaving the table and her posse behind her. She strutted across of the courtyard, with all the confidence of a femme fatale, she knew she was being watched, it wasn't arrogance, just facts. "Hi…" She said as she stepped closer to Haley's table. "Mind if I sit?"

Haley looked up from her book up at Brooke Davis, head cheerleader for the Tree Hill Ravens. She peered around confused, was Brooke really asking to join her in the courtyard where everybody could see? "Um, sure.." She answered hesitantly, "Knock yourself out," She added. Haley watched as Brooke sat down opposite her but said nothing. "I have to ask, is there a particular reason you wanted to sit here…" She asked confused, "with me?"

"Honestly?" Brooke let her body relax as she leaned on the table in front of her, "Two reasons, firstly I needed to get away from everything over there…" She said tilting her head ever so slightly in the direction of the table she had been sitting at, "And secondly, I was hoping that by sitting here with you, it would mean that when Peyton came out from whatever hole she's been hiding under all day I could finally talk to her…" Brooke bit her bottom lip, the last part didn't exactly come out the way she had intended it to. "I'm sorry, I'm just a little nervous…" She admitted.

Nathan and Lucas walked up Haley's table, both of their faces mirroring one another's; confusion. Nathan bent down beside Haley and smiled, pecking her quickly on the cheek before taking the seat next to hers. Lucas on the other decided to stay standing for now, he hadn't decided whether he was going to spend his lunch eating his lunch like every other high school student or whether he was going to try and track down Peyton and finally have it out with her. Then again maybe he didn't need to track her down, he looked past Brooke and saw Peyton storm out of the school, slamming the one of the double doors behind her. The door slamming echoed in the courtyard and had captured everyone's attention.

Peyton strolled across the courtyard to what was her usual table; well what used to be usual table. At lunch for the past six months it had been her and Haley or sometimes her, Haley and Nathan. Her frowned deepened as she saw not only her former best friend sat at her table but also the root of why they hadn't been friends any more; Lucas. She could have turned around and just walked away, she could have done that, but after the day she was having it would have been one more thing to turn a blind eye to. "What's this, the cheerleader outreach programme?" She asked accusingly at Brooke, bitterness ringing high in her voice. "What are you doing here Brooke?"

Brooke turned and stood up, she was shorter than Peyton which meant that she had to look up to her friend, her friend who was apparently in no mood for anything other than honesty. "I wanted to talk to you…"

Peyton had spent the better part of the last three years in the guidance councillor's office trying to convince him that she isn't a psychotic orphan Annie who is hell bent on destroying the football team by slandering one of the town's brightest young football players. "I'm really not in the mood to talk, Brooke…" Her voice trailed off, she was tired, just so tired of everything. She just wanted to go home and be by herself, where she could do whatever she wanted without being scrutinized. Peyton looked up and saw Mark Davidson walk across the courtyard like he owned the place, he reached his jock table and they all high-fived one another. It made her sick.

Brooke looked at Peyton and saw the sadness in her eyes. She turned her head and looked over to the football table and raised her brow, "What the hell? I thought he had been suspended from school for a week?"

"Oh come on, they would never really suspend the star quarterback just because the high school slut accused him of being a little rough with her, she probably asked for it right?" She watched as the table all turned to look at her, "Or at least that's what the school board thought so last night when they held an emergency meeting over the future of Mark Davidson, high school asshole."

"Oh Peyton…" Haley sighed.

Nathan shook his head, "Unbelievable…" He pushing himself away from the table and stood up. He stormed across the courtyard without thinking, without hesitation. His hands reached out and came into contact with Mark Davidson's back and he gave a hefty shove to him, knocking the football jock forward over the table. "Come on tough guy, what's the matter you can get rough with a girl but you wont with a guy. That it?" Nathan pushed him in the back again as the guy tried to straighten up and stand. Suddenly a set of arms were wrapped around his neck, dragging him back. "Get off me,"

Lucas let go of his brother, "He's not worth it, Nate…" He shook his head at the group of football players who were all preparing to gear up for an unfair fight. Lucas walked around and stood in front of him, pressing his hand against Nathan's chest, restraining him from moving forward.

"You're honestly going to let this jerk off get away with what he's done?" Nathan spat the words out; he couldn't believe that of all people Lucas would just sit back and not do anything. At the start of the year, Lucas and he had come to blows over Peyton, Lucas didn't like the way Peyton had been treating by Nathan – but he had never been overly abusive to his then girlfriend and he sure as hell had never laid a hand on her.

"Yeah, trust me…she's not worth it." Mark spat back at the dark haired basketball player.

Suddenly without warning, Lucas's fists clenched together and before anyone could stop it he spun around and threw the first punch, followed by throwing himself at Mark. The two collapsed on the table and they scuffled around, both throwing punches and elbows at one another. The guys who had been sat around the table all stood in unison and were about to give their fellow football player a helping hand, when Nathan threw himself at all four of them.

"NATHAN!" Haley screamed running over to the fight. It was getting out of control. Every football player who hadn't been sat around that table were now there, as well as every other basketball player. They were two different opposing team, they both looked at one another like they were the enemy. When the game was on, you worked as a team. When there was a fight, you got your hands dirty. At the end of the day, they were a team. It didn't matter who they were against, they fought together.

* * *

One hour, twenty two minutes and forty three seconds later they had all been excused from the gymnasium. The principal had no option but to hold the meeting inside of the gymnasium for it was the only place which could hold the students responsible for the fight. Both the basketball and football teams had been lectured endlessly about how they were supposed to show leadership and set a tone for the rest of the school to follow, younger students looked up to them, they were in a way role models. Principal Turner had then opted to change tactics and go for the method which he knew would break through to them; to threaten their places on the team. He didn't want to know who had instigated the fight; he didn't want to know who the ring leaders were. In his eyes they were all guilty for not stopping themselves from turning into cavemen. Then they had all been suspended for the rest of the day. The principal had assured them that it wouldn't go on their permanent records, but that in the future any such violence would not be tolerated and that the punishment would be far more severe.

Haley waited outside of the gymnasium and scowled at all of the football players who passed her by. She watched as Nathan and Lucas left the gym in unison. Nathan was sporting a small little bruise under his eyes which by tomorrow would be one heck of a black and blue shiner, while Lucas had a cut down the side of his cheek probably from when he went all Rambo and threw himself and Mark onto the table. She shook her head in disappointment. "What the hell were you thinking?" She asked the both of them.

"Not right now, Haley…" Nathan responded coolly. He had just listened to an hour long lecture; he really didn't need another one.

Haley sighed and turned her head just as Peyton turned the corner.

"What the hell were you thinking?" She shouted at the two Scott brothers. She stormed up to them and put her hands on her hips. "Do you think I'm that pathetic girl who needs an ex boyfriend and…whatever you are," She said glaring at Lucas, "To fight my battles? Because I don't!" She hissed. She wasn't the damsel in distress, she didn't need saving by a white knight let alone two white knights.

Lucas was the one to shake his head in disbelief this time. He grabbed a hold of Peyton's arm, not roughly but so that he had a good grip on her and dragged her unwillingly body through the double set of doors and into the gymnasium. He turned around so that his back was to the set of double doors, blocking her exit route. He let go of her arm and frowned, "You know what Peyton, just stop okay…just stop."

Peyton shook her head and made a move to step past him. He side stepped her and got in her way. She looked up at him and rolled her eyes, she didn't have the patience or the time to play games. Taking a step in the other direction she went to move towards the door but once again he stepped in her path. "What's your problem Lucas?"

"What's yours Peyton?" His tone reflected her harsh one, he was annoyed – annoyed that she had scowled at him this morning for no good reason whatsoever, annoyed that she was playing games with him; one minute she was yelling at him to stay out of her life the next she was kissing him, annoyed that instead of saying thank you for standing up for me she was having a bitch fit.

"You wanna know what my problem is," Peyton looked directly up into his baby blues and grinned, "You want a list?" She asked sarcastically. "Okay number one. Six months ago when you said you wanted to have everything with me, you quickly changed your tune and hoped into bed with my best friend." She watched as that brought a flicker of emotion to his face. "Number two, my former best friend never really knew me, she thought my pissed off antics in a cheerleading session was because I had broken up with my boyfriend when in fact it was a combination of mourning my dead mother and hating myself…" She continued. "Number three; I have no family whatsoever to go home to at night to complain about my day to, mom's dead and dad's never there." She closed her eyes and bit down on her bottom lip, "Number four; the first time I stand up for myself in what feels like forever, the first time I finally take a stand...and people would rather call me a slut than believe that a football god like Mark Davidson would ever lay a hand on a girl like me." She felt the tears starting to well up in her eyes, so she kept them close hoping that by doing so, it would stop them in their tracks. "Number five," She said, her voice breaking. She stopped feeling a set of warm hands on her cheeks, cupping her face. She opened her eyes slowly and as she did a traitor tear escaped. "I'm not worth it…" She said quoting Mark from earlier. His little statement had pretty much summed up how she felt.

Lucas's eyes searched hers as he wiped away the single tear that fell down the side of her face with his thumb, "You're wrong Peyton," He smiled gently, "You are worth it." And that was the moment that the wall Peyton Sawyer had been fronting for six months, possibly longer finally cracked. She collapsed in his arms and cried, he wrapped his arms around her waist bringing her body closer to his so that there was no gap between them. He stroked the back of her head with his hand and whispered into the blonde curls, "You mean everything…"


	8. Chapter 8

An emotional breakdown happens for many reasons. To an eighteen year old movie star it could be from overexposure, the pressure of being in the public eye, underage drinking, use of illegal substances or all of the above. To a middle aged housewife with the so called perfect family it could be from a neglectful husband, inconsiderate children or the realisation that dreams which were once sought after no longer apply. To a sixteen year old girl from Tree Hill it happens because of one reason and one reason only; she holds everything back, her thoughts, her feelings, her desires…everything. For the past forty three minutes, Peyton Sawyer the self proclaimed ice queen had been drying her apparent never ending tears on the shoulder of a comforting Lucas Scott. While the last few tears escaped their home and trickled down her cheeks, she started to regret her sudden outburst, remember, she told herself, you're not the damsel in distress…no matter how nice it feels.

Lucas knew their moment was coming to an end; soon she would pull away from his embrace and shrug off her emotional outburst as PMS or something. So he was determined to savour these last moments with her. He tilted his head ever so slightly, her blonde curls moving slightly as a result. The faint smell of coconut circled around him; he concluded that she must have washed her hair this morning before school. The smell would probably have gone a miss by anyone else but him, he was always fully alert when he was around Peyton, noticing the slightest changes. His hands were happily snaked around her, resting ever so lightly on her hip, they hadn't moved in over forty minutes and he didn't want to do anything that would make her pull away quicker but the urge to stroke a tear from her face was too much. Raising his left hand slightly, he moved it up to the side of her face and brushed the top of his index finger gently against her cheek stopping a tear in its track. He looked down and watched as she pulled her head away, just as he thought she would. Though instead of pulling completely back he was stunned to see her red, puffy emerald green eyes staring into his. Without deliberation a small, gentle smile graced his lips.

Peyton bit down on the inside of her lips, why did it always have to come to this? Why did he always have to look at her like…like… she meant everything? For the past six months Lucas Scott had been walking around Tree Hill with a God complex, his higher than thou attitude had made life easier for her. With no best friend and the guy she was interested in giving her the cold shoulder, her invisible emotional barrier was easier to maintain. "I'm sorry," She apologised looking down at his maroon coloured t-shirt and motioned to the wet patch on his shoulder. "Once the flood gate opens they're kinda hard to close." She joked, trying to make light of the situation. But it's bolted shut now, she thought to herself. Well maybe not so much bolted shut as slightly a jar, it was highly likely that when she eventually returned home she would once again have an embarrassing emotional breakdown which would be acceptable because she would be alone. "Anyways, uh.. thanks…" She backed further away and stood up. At the start of her breakdown, Lucas had guided her to the bottom bleacher which she was now thankful for, sitting for forty minutes on a hard gym floor would have been highly uncomfortable.

Lucas quickly jumped to his feet, keeping his eyes fixed on the beautiful blonde girl standing before him. "Peyton…" He spoke her name in a breathless whisper. Her name had escaped from his lips, he hadn't actually planned on saying anything in case he screwed up the moment, which being him, was incredibly likely. "Do you want a ride home?" He asked quickly trying to fill the silence.

"What, in case I have another emotional breakdown on the way home from school and end up hitting some steroid induced football jock?" It was hard to keep her tone playful, it was easy to picture running down Mark Davidson and then blaming it on an 'emotional breakdown.' "Don't worry, Luke…" She shrugged gently and did her best attempt at a smile, "I don't really feel like going to jail for life for murder…" Peyton turned in her boots and slowly made her way across the gymnasium, "but if I do, I'll call you…I'll probably need an accomplice," She joked again as she pulled on one of the double doors, and made her way out of the home of the ravens with questions still filling her mind. Why was it hard for her to open up to anyone especially Lucas? Her drawings reflected the answer; people always leave. They don't have to die, they don't have to leave town, all they have to do is to abandon you like a former best friend or give you the cold shoulder like a-could have been boyfriend. On the bright side, she thought to herself as she made her way down the empty corridor, at least Lucas got her mind off of Mark Davidson and the disastrous day she had been having.

--

--

With Muse blaring from her speakers and the top drawn down to her car, she let the cool harsh wind bluster freely against her skin causing her ears and nose to go numb. Her senses on the other hand were heightened by the harsh wind; for the first time in a long time, she felt alive. She could feel the beat in her once dejected heart, it amazed and annoyed her how one boy could utter one sentence and change her world so completely. Okay, so it was more of a statement than a sentence and it wasn't just one boy, for the past seven months ever since she had almost run over his skinny athletic ass with her car, it had been _the _boy. As she pulled up onto her street she looked ahead to her house and saw Nathan Scott standing by her front door, waiting for her. Driving onto her concrete driveway she pulled to a stop two inches from the closed garage door, to the outside world it would have looked like a lucky miss but in reality it was just her driving, she knew her car like the back of her hand. "Is it my unlucky day or something?" She called out as she picked up her back from the passenger seat, opened the car door and stepped out. Closing the door behind her she made her way over to the front door and to her former boyfriend. "Two Scott's fight for my honour…if you're waiting for the teenage overemotional breakdown you've missed that boat, I already did that at the school with your brother… though I can give you a recap if ya like, maybe shed some tears to add dramatic effect?"

Nathan ignored her and stared incredulously at her opened topped convertible, "Are you just gonna leave your car like that?" His tone was seething with disapproval. He looked up at the darkened grey clouds looming over their heads and raised his brow, "It looks like it's gonna rain."

Peyton looked up at the sky and nodded, "It is…" She backed him up and looked down at the same time, meeting his dark hazel coloured eyes. "So Nate, what are you doing here? I doubt you came over to give me a lecture about maintaining my car…" Peyton turned her attention towards the door, she had enjoyed the cool harsh breeze while driving but it suddenly made the hairs on her arms stand up. She shoved the front door key into its home and turned the lock, pushing on the white painted door opening it. A rush of warmth hit her like a ton of bricks, she had left the heating on early this morning…which was no doubt going to result in a large electric bill at the end of the month, oh well, it was a good thing she wasn't the one paying the bills.

Nathan followed Peyton inside and closed the door behind him, keeping the cold weather at bay. He had never really taken note anything inside of her house; when they had dated all he had ever been interested in was going to Peyton's bedroom and doing things behind closed doors. His eyes darted around the opened floored hallway, the walls were neutral; painted with creams and browns and the hallway had a few peculiar ornaments sitting on the random end table or on the desk by the wall. But that wasn't what captured his attention, it was the tiny photo hanging above the desk in a small wooden frame. The picture was of Peyton when she was about four or five, her mother and her father. Peyton was sat on the floor, Peyton's mother kneeling behind her resting her head on Peyton's full head of curls and Peyton's father standing behind his wife, his head resting on the straight honey blonde locks that fell down beside Peyton's mom's face. It was the picture perfect image of the perfect family, a photo that could easily belong to the Brady bunch. "Wow…" His words came out in a hushed whisper.

"What?" Peyton had been flicking through the mail, all of it bills and addressed to her father. She dropped her school bag to the floor and walked over to stand beside Nathan. A small smile graced her lips as she peered up at the photo. There weren't many photos of the three of them together; most of them were hanging on various walls throughout the house, all on display, constant reminders that she had had a complete family once. "That was taken the last day of summer before second grade; we threw an end of summer backyard party, we had a bouncy castle in the backyard, kids down the street had set up hockey in the street…" Peyton paused remembering the day vividly. The plastic smell from the bouncy castle, the sound of the adults talking over one another, the smell of burnt chicken… "It was a good day," She concluded not wanting to dredge up old memories; she had already been through enough for one day.

Nathan turned and looked at Peyton, it would have taken a blind man not to see the ancient sadness in her eyes. Haley had opened his eyes to the world, she had reached forward and pulled back the curtains and shown him things he had never seen before. He hadn't seen the sadness in Peyton's eyes before, with the curtains drawn back he could see it clearly now, and he regretted not being there for her when she needed him. "It's strange…" He continued, "When we were together we barely talked about what really mattered to us, well, what really mattered to you… I talked your ear off about my dad and all the drama in my life," Peyton had been the perfect person to vent all of his issues to, she had always listened to him.

"Our relationship wasn't very…" She tried to think of the right word to describe it, "I guess, deep?" She looked up at him and smiled gently, "We were different people back then; you were an arrogant, self centred ass…" Peyton watched as Nathan winced slightly at her truthful portrayal of his former self, "But now you're one of the good guys, Nathan Scott…" Her hand reached out and touched his arm, comfortingly. "You've changed for the better…" She reassured him.

"And so have you," He felt like they had been having this conversation a lot recently. Talking about the past and reassuring each other that they were no longer the people they were. "You shouldn't listen to Mark Davidson, that guy is the biggest ass on the planet," Not to be a shoulder to be her shoulder to cry on, she had Lucas for that and a small part of him envied his older brother that. He loved Haley, he truly did but Peyton had been his first love and while she may have downgraded their relationship, he had always looked back on it with fond memories. It was only towards the end of their relationship when things had started to go down him, before then he and Peyton had been inseparable. "Anyways, I came by to tell you that I'm sorry if my actions today hurt you," He air quoted Haley, whom on the way home from school had given him a long speech about how he shouldn't have done that and how he should have more self control but in the end she concluded that she was proud of him; proud of him for standing up for Peyton. "But I'm not sorry for doing it!" His tone reflected his feelings; he was unrepentant for what he had done. "He deserved everything he got…and more." He braced himself for the Peyton Sawyer stare down, but was surprised to see kind eyes looking up at him. "…and you know I'm right," He concluded when not seeing the surface of the ice stare.

"There always a first, you were bound to be right at some point in your life" She winked at him before nudging her shoulder against his arm playfully. This was the relationship she liked having with Nathan, it was nice being able to open up to someone who like her came from an unstable family life, and who was and would always be flawed because of their un-perfect past. Their friendship was comfortable. "So, while you're here I don't suppose you could put those weenie basketball arms to good use, could you?" Her eyelashes battered vigorously as she beamed up at him, looking the picture of innocence.

Nathan looked down at her with his brow raised in suspicion, "Sawyer, all you ever wanted me for was my body!" He joked.

--

--

The wind had turned colder and harsher as the evening progressed, bringing with it black, murderous looking clouds and hard, heavy rain. Brooke looked up at the sky and frowned with utter disappointment. There was supposed to a beach party tonight in honour of the cheerleading squad reaching regionals, but thanks to the dark and gloomy weather it had been called off. Just as well, she thought to herself. She wasn't in a celebratory mood, she hadn't been her usual cheery self for quite some time now. Opening the car door to her beetle convertible, she stepped out into the rain and slammed the door behind her, making a dash for cover. Pulling on the metal handle, the door to Karen's café swung open and she stepped inside. It was empty, besides Haley James. In her Miss Sixty denim patterned heels she made her way over to the two of them, "Hola…" She greeted them.

Haley turned irritated that her customer free evening had been compromised. "Oh, hey Brooke…" She tried to pick up the enthusiasm in her voice, it wasn't Brooke's fault that she felt gloomy. As soon as the sky had darkened over, her happy go lucky mood had shifted dramatically with the weather. "Can I get you something or did you just duck in here to hide from the miserable ness that is the weather?"

"I ducked, but I'll take a hot chocolate with whipped cream to cheer myself up," She grinned at the bookworm standing in front of her. She turned her head and glanced around the empty café, she had spent many nights inside of the café in the far corner just hanging out with Lucas. The two of them never really talked much, they just sat in silence listening to local in house artist which who would play once a week in the café. Brooke turned her attention back to Haley who was whipping up two hot chocolates, "One for me and…"

"One for me. We should talk…" Haley put the two mugs filled with hot chocolate, both topped with whipped cream on a tray. She picked the tray up, walked around the counter and over to the table beside the window. "Sit..." She motioned to Brooke as she quickly turned on her ballerina flats and made her way across the café to the door. Turning over the open sign to closed she waved off a man about to enter the café and mouthed her apology to him. "I've always wanted to do that," She laughed turning back to Brooke who was sat on the sofa, taking a sip from her mug. "I know it's mean but I'm just so tired..."

Brooke laughed, "Tutor girl who knew you could be abusive of your administrative power….I like it." She sighed and placed her mug down on the coffee table. "So why don't we just go straight to the point," Brooke was never one to beat around the bush, if anything she was known for her direct approach. "You want to talk to me about Peyton…"

"I do," Haley nodded and sat down Brooke on the opposite sofa. "I'm worried about her," Haley too was known her direct approach. "I'm worried that everything she's been through, losing your friendship, the constant drama with Lucas and now with Mark Davidson…" She paused, "I'm just worried about what she'll do to cope with everything."

Brooke nodded and leaned forward on the sofa, her elbows resting on her knees. "I'm worried too" Brooke scrutinized Haley's reaction, she saw a fleeting look of disbelief in the smart girls eyes. "Just because Peyton and I are going through…what we're going through, it doesn't mean that I don't care about her." She could feel tears behind her eyes, waiting for enough to build up so that they could be released. "But I don't think you or anyone else gives Peyton her dues for how strong she is." Haley may have been close to Peyton for these past few months, but it was her who knew Peyton Elizabeth Sawyer.

"So you're worried…but you're also not?" Haley asked confused.

"Yes." Brooke grinned in response, it may not make sense to tutor girl but it made perfect sense to her. "I know you think that sounds crazy, but it's not. Peyton's a fighter, she may be at rock bottom now but I swear just wait and watch tutor girl, you'll see the rise of Peyton Sawyer once more." Brooke was confident in her former friend, you could never keep a girl like Peyton down for long. "I'm just hoping that I'm on the right side of Peyton when she fights back," She half heartedly joked, but on the inside she was secretly hoping that her fractured friendship with Peyton wouldn't be so fractured for much longer. She missed Peyton.

"You know what Brooke," Haley watched the cheerleader carefully. "I don't think people give you your dues," Ever since the almost fight at Nathan's beach house not so long ago she had seen another side to Brooke, a more sensitive side. "I'll admit I was one of those people…"

Brooke grinned and lifted her mug of hot chocolate from the table, "Tutor girl, I'm full of surprises…" She took a sip from her hot chocolate, "I mean who thought that instead of being at cheerleading practise for regionals I would be sat in Karen's Café drinking a hot chocolate and talking to Haley James…"

"So you do know my name.." Haley rebuffed.

"Like I said, I'm full of surprises." Brooke grinned.

--

--

Peyton curled up on the sofa in dressed in her pink thermal pyjamas and pulled the blanket down from the back of the sofa, wrapping it around her body. She reached for the television remote and flicked it on, flicking through random channels until she reached the weather channel. The news bulletin plastered at the bottom of the screen was a warning for the South Carolina area. Flicking the television off, she sighed, hoping that her not so reliable electric circuit wouldn't cut out on her tonight. It was one thing being alone in a storm; it was another being alone in a storm surrounded by complete darkness. She knew from past experiences that the best thing to do in a storm was to keep most electrical equipment turned off and to just wait it out, which meant no Ipod, no television, no computer. This probably would have been the perfect time to have friends over…if she had any. What was she thinking, she did have friends. She had Haley, who was working tonight and Nathan who she had found out earlier was under house arrest by his parents for his antics at school. She turned her attention to the wind and rain that was beating heavily against the living room window, now would actually be a great time for a musical distraction. Pushing herself further down on the sofa, she closed her eyes hoping that sleep would steal her away from the real world at least until the storm was over.

What sounded like someone knocking at the front door woke her up. It felt like she had been asleep for hours but as she glanced at the clock resting on the mantel piece she was sadly mistaken, she had been asleep for less than forty minutes and judging by the wind and rain outside, the storm was only just starting. Peyton lifted up the blanket and stood up, dropping the blanket back down on the sofa. Slowly but steadily she walked across the living room in her bare feet to the front door. Unbolting the door she jumped back startled by another anxious knock at the door, "Jeez, just a second!" She yelled through the wooden door as she turned the key. Turning the handle she pulled back on the door and there standing on her porch, wet from the rain was Lucas Scott. "Luke…" She raised her brow confused, "What are you doing here?" She frowned, "No wait, I get it…you're checking up on me." Sighing her frowned eased, they were only trying to be nice, she told herself willing herself not to get angry. "As Nathan saw earlier I'm fine…as Haley will probably see later when she comes by on Peyton watch, I'm fine…really, see no slit wrists" As she raised her arms in the air, her pyjama top sleeves fell down slightly showing off her perfectly smooth wrists, "I've got no rope in the house to hang myself.." She joked though judging by Lucas's reaction he didn't find her joke funny. "Honestly, Lucas I'm fine…"

"I know." Lucas looked into her beautiful emerald coloured eyes and smiled gently. "This isn't a conspiracy theory that Nathan, Haley and I have fixed up; there is no Peyton watch…" He quoted her grinning, "I actually came by just to see you." He admitted. So maybe he had come by to see how she was but that was only a part of the reason, after their encounter earlier he felt hopeful. "Okay, so maybe I did come by to see how you are but I swear it was completely of my own doing and no one else's…and I was worried about you."

"Like I said, I'm fine." She repeated for what sounded like the hundredth time.

"When I said I was worried about you, what I meant was I didn't want you to be alone in the storm." He admitted honestly. He had been at home in his bedroom when the weather alert of the storm had interrupted the television programme he was watching. Ever since then he had been restless, thinking of Peyton at home by herself and it bothered him, probably more than it should have.

"Oh." Peyton grinned and took a step back away from the door, opening it wider. "Come in." She watched as Lucas stepped past her, dripping water onto the wooden floor as he did. She examined him from behind and noted that he wasn't just wet, he was completely drenched from head to toe. "Did you walk over here?" She asked as she closed the front door. "You're soaked through…" She commented on his clothes and shoes which were leaking everywhere.

"Sorry…" He apologised and walked back towards the door, standing on the welcome mat which rested in front of the door. Hopefully that would stop the water from leaking onto the floor.

Peyton watched him and rolled her eyes, "Do you want some of my dad's old clothes or something?" She would have asked whether she could get him a towel or two, but by the looks of him it would have done no good.

"That…would be a little weird." He didn't particularly want to walk around in a strange man's clothes, least of all her father's.

"Nathan may have left some clothes here from when we dated…unless that's weirder than wearing my dad's clothes?" She asked knowing the answer, Lucas and Nathan's relationship over the past few months had developed – they no longer hated each other, if anything each of them had a respect for one another. But to walk around in Nathan's clothes would still be weird…probably equally weird as wearing her father's clothes. "So the options are…wearing some of my dad's old clothes, wearing some of your brother's old clothes…or standing on the welcome home mat looking like a complete ass." She grinned, "Your choice!"

"Point taken…I'll take Nathan's clothes."

Peyton nodded, "Follow me." Peyton turned around and ran up the stairs barefooted and made her way into her bedroom. "I think…" She spoke to herself mostly trying to remember where she had put the clothes she had never returned to Nathan, "I put them…" She walked into the little nook in her bedroom, opened the closet and reached up to pull down a set of pair of running bottoms and a football jersey. "Here…" She turned and walked across the bedroom and handed the clothes to Nathan, "Don't worry they're clean…I just never got round to returning them." In fact, she had specifically kept the football jersey – it was had become one of her favourite nightshirts. "I'll be downstairs." Peyton stepped past Lucas and walked out of the bedroom closing the door behind her.

Lucas stood alone in Peyton Sawyer's bedroom. He had never been alone in her room before, then again he had never had to wear any of his brother's clothes before either. Looking around he noted the lightness of the room, her walls were painted a light yellow colour and various drawings of hers were hanging from the walls. He took a few step backwards and sat down on her bed, kicking off his shoes as he did. Lucas had sat on something, using his hand he pulled out whatever it was he had sat on and looked at it – it was Peyton's sketchbook. Opening it he flicked through the first ten pages or so which had obviously been drawn a couple of months ago – some of them he recognised from Thudd magazine. He paused on, running his hand over a drawing. It was of him and Peyton, his hand was placed across her heart. The smile that had been tugging at his lips disappeared as he remembered that night…he looked over the caption and sighed.

Peyton heard his footsteps before she saw him, she looked him and up down and grinned. "Well the good news is you fill look better in that jersey than Nathan ever did…the bad news is, I still look better in it!" Peyton eyes followed him as he moved around the living room, he was holding something but she wasn't sure what. As he sat down on the sofa beside her, she recognised the book in his hand…it was her sketchbook. "That's private!" Her friendly tone was instantly replaced by an icy one as she reached across to take the sketchbook from his hand. Instead of giving it to her he moved slightly on the sofa, so the sketch book was out of her reach.

He turned his head and looked at her, simultaneously opening the sketch book to the drawing of him and her. "Do you remember that night?" He asked watching as she pulled away from him and sank further back into the sofa, her eyes carefully avoiding his. She didn't answer, "What about this one?" He opened the sketchbook again to a drawing of him and her standing in his room, after she had confessed that she had wanted everything with him.

"Look I'm really not in the mood to walk down memory lane, so if you have a point get to it." Her glare matched her icy tone. She had invited him into her house and he had snooped through her personal belongings? Bastard!

"There's always been something standing between us…Nathan, Brooke….You" She had been the reason the two of them hadn't become something the night of Dan's party. She had pulled away from him, not that he blamed her. He understood why she did of course, she had told him later that she was scared but that she did want everything with him. "Me…"

"And?"

"There's nothing standing in our way now…" He grinned, "Peyton I'm not asking you for anything, I'm not declaring my undying love for you, I'm not pressuring you into something…I'm just putting it out there."

Peyton rolled her eyes and leaned forward reaching over him to grab her sketchbook from his grasp. She paused as she realised how close she was to him. Turning her head slightly she looked at him, his face was barely two inches from hers…his eyes were looking right into hers. She couldn't help but grin as she pulled the sketchbook back, "Okay…it's out there….but this is still private." Peyton pulled back and sighed, putting her sketchbook on the floor. "Now shut up," Turning on the sofa, she reached across the side table and picked up operation. "And play…."

--

--

Peyton opened her eyes slowly and sighed deeply. Tilting her head slightly she looked over to the living room window and didn't hear or see anything. The storm must have passed through while they were asleep. And she had slept better than she had done in months. His toned body pressed under hers wasn't particularly comfortable to rest on, his chest didn't really make a comfy pillow but yet she was completely comfortable and content. Resting her head back on his football jersey covered chest, she reached down and pulled the blanket up from the floor and threw it over hers and his body.


End file.
